UTESA

Yineysi Peña Ortiz

English grammar

06/13/2021
Sentences
Following the Oxford definition of “Sentence”, a sentence is a set of words that is
complete in itself, typically containing a subject and predicate, conveying a statement,
question, exclamation, or command, and consisting of a main clause and sometimes
one or more subordinate clauses.

In simple words, a sentence is a textual unit consisting in one or more words that are
grammatically linked. A sentence can include words grouped meaningfully to express
a statement, question, exclamation, request, command or suggestion. Every word in a
sentence serves a specific purpose within the structure of that particular sentence. The
two most basic parts of a sentence are the subject and predicate.

 The subject of a sentence is the person, place, or thing that is performing the
action of the sentence. The subject represents what or whom the sentence is
about. The simple subject usually contains a noun or pronoun and can include
modifying words, phrases, or clauses.
For example:
The house is blue.
“House” is the subject of the sentence.
 Predicate expresses action or being within the sentence. The simple predicate
contains the verb and can also contain modifying words, phrases, or clauses.
For example:
The house is blue.
“Is blue” is the predicate of the sentence.

The subject and predicate make up the two basic structural parts of any complete
sentence. In addition, there are other elements, contained within the subject or
predicate, which adds meaning or detail.

These elements include the direct object, indirect object, and subject complement. All
of these elements can be expanded and further combined into simple, compound,
complex, or compound/complex sentences.

 The direct object receives the action of the sentence. The direct object is
usually a noun or pronoun.
For example:
The boy plays with a ball.
“Ball” is the direct object.

 The indirect object indicates to whom or for whom the action of the sentence
is being done. The indirect object is usually a noun or pronoun.
For example:
 I told her a joke.
“Her” is the indirect object.

Clauses and types

Clauses come in four types: main (or independent), subordinate (or dependent),
adjective (or relative), and noun. Every clause has at least one subject and one verb.

1- Main clause or independent

Every main clause contains the same pattern:
Subject + verb
For example:
1. Mary runs.
2- Subordinate clause or dependent
Follow this pattern:
Subordinate conjunction + subject + verb
Note: a subordinate conjunction is a word or phrase that links a dependent
clause to an independent clause. Example: because, after, as, even if, etc.
Example of a subordinate clause:
1. I run fast because she was trying to bit me.
“because she was trying to bit me” is a dependent clause.
3- Adjective clause
It will begin with a relative pronoun (such as who, whom, whose, which, or
that) or a relative adverb (when, where, or why).
The pattern looks like this:
Relative pronoun or adverbs + subject + verb
For example:
The cake that she bought was delicious.
“That she bought” is an adjective clause; “that” is the relative pronoun, “she”
the subject and “bought” is the verb.
Note: like subordinate clauses, adjective clauses cannot stand alone as
complete sentences. You must connect them to main clauses to finish the
thought.
4- Noun clause
Is a dependent clause that acts as a noun. Noun clauses begin with words such
as how, that, what, whatever, when, where, whether, which, whichever, who,
whoever, whom, whomever, and why. Noun clauses can act as subjects, direct
objects, indirect objects, predicate nominatives, or objects of a preposition.
Like any noun, a noun
For example:
What bill did shocked his friends.
Classification

The classification of a sentence can be dividing by two types:

1. By purpose:
 Declarative sentences
Are simply statements that relay information. They are the most common type
of sentences in the English language. A declarative sentence states the facts or
an opinion and lets the reader know something specific. It always ends with a
period.
For example:
1- He runs.
2- Marta is happy.
3- Dogs are cute.
 Interrogative sentence
Is a type of sentence that asks a question, as opposed to sentences that make a
statement, deliver a command, or express an exclamation. Interrogative
sentences are typically marked by inversion of the subject and predicate; that
is, the first verb in a verb phrase appears before the subject. Importantly, an
interrogative sentence ends with a question mark.
For example:
1- Do you like apples?
2- Are you looking for something?
3- How are you?
 Imperative sentences
Is a type of sentence that gives instructions or advice, and expresses a
command, an order, a direction, or a request. It is also known as a jussive or a
directive. Depending upon its delivery, an imperative sentence may end with an
exclamation mark or a period. It is usually simple and short, but could be long
and complex, depending upon its context.

An imperative sentence plays an important role in writing as well as in

speaking. It is not very common in literary writing, but very important in
everyday conversational language. Besides this, it is commonly used in
advertisements, manuals, instructions and road signs. It is more intentional as
compared to an exclamatory sentence, as it requires a specific audience to be
addressed.
 Writers mostly use imperatives to give clear and straightforward instructions,
commands, or to express displeasure, likeness, fondness, and love through
their writings.

For example:
1- Please, help me.
2- Get lost.
3- Don’t be panic.
 Exclamatory sentences
Express some strong feelings or emotions such as joy, sorrow, regret, surprise,
wonder etc., are called exclamatory sentences. The usual function of an
exclamative sentence is to help the speaker express a strong (often extreme)
opinion about a situation. It expresses our personal and magnified assessment
of the situation.
For example:
1- What a marvelous sight!
2- How beautiful the flower is!
3- Hurrah! We have won.
2. By structure
One traditional scheme for classifying English sentences is by clause structure,
the number and types of clauses in the sentence with finite verbs.
 Simple sentences
Are sentences that contain one independent clause; an independent clause is a
group of words that has both a subject and a verb, with a subject and a
predicate. Modifiers, compound subjects, and compound verbs/predicates can
be used in simple sentences.
For example:
1- I can’t drink warm water.
2- The sun is in the sky.
3- Reality continues to ruin my life.
 Compound sentences
A compound sentence contains at least two independent clauses. These clauses
are joined by a coordinating conjunction or a semicolon.
For example:
1- I kicked the ball, and it hit tom.
“I kicked the ball” is an independent clause.
And “it hit tom” is also an independent clause.
“and” is coordinating conjunction joining the two independent clauses.
  Complex sentences
A complex sentence contains a subordinate clause and an independent clause.
A subordinate clause is a group of words that has a subject and a verb but does
not express a complete thought.
For example:
Tom cried because the ball hit him.
“Tom cried” is an independent clause.
“because the ball hit him” is a dependent clause.
 Compound-complex sentences
Is basically a combination of a compound sentence and a complex sentence. It
means that it contain at least two independent clauses and at least one
subordinate clause.
For example
1- Tom cried because the ball hit him, and I apologized immediately.
“Tom cried” and “and I apologized immediately” are both independent
clauses. They're being joined by the conjunction and.

“Because the ball hit him” is a dependent adverb clause modifying the verb
cried.

Negative sentences

Negative sentences are declarative statements. That is, they relay information believed
to be true. Negative sentences are typically formed by adding the word "not" after the
helping verb. The most popular helping verbs are a form of "to be," including "am,"
"is," "are," "was" and "were."

Negative sentences can also make use of the words "do" or "will" (including "do,"
"did," and "does") before "not." In any of these constructs, it's possible to substitute
"does not" with the contraction "doesn't." Other examples include didn't, isn't, wasn't,
weren't, and won't.

If you're writing a formal document or an academic essay, it's best not to use
contractions. However, for informal writing, including blogging and social media posts,
contractions are perfectly acceptable.

For example:

1- I am not Maria.
2- She doesn’t have to work today.
3- They aren’t playing poker today.
Grammar

Is the structure and system of a language, or of languages in general, usually

considered to consist of syntax and morphology.

The word grammar is derived from Greek “γραμματικὴ τέχνη”(grammatikḕ téchnē),

which means "art of letters", from γράμμα (grámma), "letter", itself from γράφειν
(gráphein), "to draw, to write".The same Greek root also appears in graphics,
grapheme, and photograph.

Are rules of a language governing the sounds, words, sentences, and other elements,
as well as their combination and interpretation. The word grammar also denotes the
study of these abstract features or a book presenting these rules. In a restricted sense,
the term refers only to the study of sentence and word structure (syntax and
morphology), excluding vocabulary and pronunciation.

The term "grammar" can also describe the linguistic behavior of groups of speakers
and writers, rather than individuals. Differences in scales are important to this sense of
the word: for example, the term "English grammar" could refer to the whole of English
grammar (that is, to the grammars of all the speakers of the language), in which case
the term encompasses a great deal of variation.

At a smaller scale, it may refer only to what is shared among the grammars of all or
most English speakers (such as subject–verb–object word order in simple declarative
sentences). At the smallest scale, this sense of "grammar" can describe the
conventions of just one relatively well-defined form of English (such as standard
English for a region).

In Europe the Greeks were the first to write grammars. To them, grammar was a tool
that could be used in the study of Greek literature; hence their focus on the literary
language. The Alexandrians of the 1st century BC further developed Greek grammar in
order to preserve the purity of the language. Dionysus Thrax of Alexandria later wrote
an influential treatise called The Art of Grammar, in which he analyzed literary texts in
terms of letters, syllables, and eight parts of speech.

By 1700 grammars of 61 vernacular languages had been printed. These were written
primarily for purposes of reforming, purifying, or standardizing language and were put
to pedagogical use. Rules of grammar usually accounted for formal, written, literary
language only and did not apply to all the varieties of actual, spoken language.
Grammars evolve through usage. Historically, with the advent of written
representations, formal rules about language usage tend to appear also, although such
rules tend to describe writing conventions more accurately than conventions of
speech. Formal grammars are codifications of usage which are developed by repeated
documentation and observation over time. As rules are established and developed, the
prescriptive concept of grammatical correctness can arise.

This often produces a discrepancy between contemporary usage and that which has
been accepted, over time, as being standard or "correct". Linguists tend to view
prescriptive grammars as having little justification beyond their authors' aesthetic
tastes, although style guides may give useful advice about standard language
employment, based on descriptions of usage in contemporary writings of the same
language.

Linguistic prescriptions also form part of the explanation for variation in speech,
particularly variation in the speech of an individual speaker (for example, why some
speakers say "I didn't do nothing", some say "I didn't do anything", and some say one
or the other depending on social context).

The formal study of grammar is an important part of children's schooling from a young
age through advanced learning, though the rules taught in schools are not a
"grammar" in the sense that most linguists use, particularly as they are prescriptive in
intent rather than descriptive.

Constructed languages are more common in the modern-day, although still extremely
uncommon compared to natural languages. Many have been designed to aid human
communication. Each of these languages has its own grammar.
Parts of speech

1. Noun
A noun is a word that names something, such as a person, place, thing, or idea.
In a sentence, nouns can play the role of subject, direct object, indirect object,
subject complement, object complement, appositive, or adjective.

Types of nouns
Nouns form a large proportion of English vocabulary and they come in a wide
variety of types.
1- Nouns can name a person
Example: Maria, Juan, a girl, the president.
2- Name a place
Example: Disneyland, bedroom, Mount Vesuvius.
3- Nouns can also name things, although sometimes they might be intangible
things, such as concepts, activities, or processes. Some might even be
hypothetical or imaginary things.
Example: shoe, faucet, freedom, basketball.

Proper nouns and common nouns

One important distinction to be made is whether a noun is a proper noun or
a common noun. A proper noun is a specific name of a person, place, or
thing, and is always capitalized.
Example:
Does Maria have much homework to do this evening?
“Maria” is the name of a specific person.

The opposite of a proper noun is a common noun, sometimes known as a

generic noun. A common noun is the generic name of an item in a class or
group and is not capitalized unless appearing at the beginning of a sentence
or in a title.
Example:
The girl crossed the river.
“Girl” is a common noun; we do not learn the identity of the girl by reading
this sentence, though we know the action she takes. “River” is also a
common noun in this sentence.
Plural nouns

Plural nouns, unlike collective nouns, require plural verbs. Many English plural nouns
can be formed by adding -s or -es to the singular form, although there are many
exceptions.

 As was mentioned earlier, we add the plural suffix –s to most words:

Cat – cats
Bear—bears
 However, after sounds s, z, sh, ch, and j, we add the plural suffix –es:
Class—classes
Fox—foxes
 Some words that end in z also double their ending consonant, like quizzes.
 We also add the plural suffix –es to most words that end in o:
Hero—heroes
Mosquito—mosquitoes
 When a word ends in y and there is a consonant before y, we change the y to i
and add –es.
Sky—skies
Candy-candies
 However, if the y follows another vowel, you simply add an –s.
Alloy—alloys
Day—days
 When a word ends in –f or –fe, we change the f to v and add –es
Life—lives
Leaf—leaves
2. Verbs
Verbs are words that describe actions, whether physical or mental. Verbs also
describe a “state of being,” like the verbs be, become, or exist.
Example:
Sarah ran across the street.

Some verbs also act as “helper verbs” to change the tense of another verb.
Likewise, these helper verbs can change a positive statement to a negative one
with words like “not.”

Every sentence needs at least one verb. If there’s no verb, it’s an incomplete
sentence or a sentence fragment. Except for imperative sentences, a sentence
also needs a subject, the thing doing the action.

Subjects are important for a verb because they change how it’s conjugated,
which we explain below. This is especially true for the most common verb: be.

Types of verbs
1- Dynamic or action verbs
Most verbs describe a physical action or activity, something external that
can be seen or heard. These verbs are formally known as dynamic verbs,
but can also be called action or event verbs.

Examples: walk, laugh, swim, play, eat, drink, sing, dance, talk, say.

There are a lot of actions that take place in our minds and feelings, which
are not external. Verbs that describe mental or internal actions are still
dynamic verbs, but they’re not always so obvious. These include “process
verbs,” which describe actions of transition.

Examples: consider, guess, change, grow, live, endure, succeed, fail.

2- Stative verbs
The opposite of dynamic verbs of action is stative verbs of being. Stative
verbs describe a subject’s state or feeling, including things they like and
don’t like.
Examples: want, need, prefer, love, hate, like, dislike, seem, understand,
know, believe, involve, realize
 3- Auxiliary verbs
Auxiliary verbs, or “helping verbs,” are used in English to change another
verb’s tense, voice, or mood. When auxiliary verbs are used, there’s always
a main verb that represents the main action. However, the auxiliary verb
must still be conjugated correctly.

The main auxiliary verbs are be, have, and do. We explain how they’re used
specifically for conjugating below, but here are a few quick.
Examples:

I have eaten sushi many times before. (tense)

That piece of sushi was eaten by me. (voice)

Did you eat my sushi? (mood)

1- Modal auxiliary verbs

some auxiliary verbs are added to another verb to show necessity, possibility,
or capability. Like other auxiliary verbs, modal auxiliary verbs are not the main
verb, but they do change its meaning slightly. Some common examples are can,
may, could, should, would, must, ought, and might

3. Pronoun
A pronoun is a word that is used instead of a noun or noun phrase. Pronouns
refer to either a noun that has already been mentioned or to a noun that does
not need to be named specifically.

The most common pronouns are the personal pronouns, which refer to the
person or people speaking or writing (first person), the person or people being
spoken to (second person), or other people or things (third person). Like nouns,
personal pronouns can function as either the subject of a verb or the object of
a verb or preposition: "She likes him, but he loves her."

There are a number of other types of pronouns.

The interrogative pronouns—particularly what, which, who, whom, and

whose—introduce questions for which a noun is the answer, as in "Which do
you prefer?"
 Possessive pronouns refer to things or people that belong to someone. The
main possessive pronouns are mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, and theirs.

The four demonstrative pronouns—this, that, these, and those—distinguish

the person or thing being referred to from other people or things; they are
identical to the demonstrative adjectives.

Relative pronouns introduce a subordinate clause, a part of a sentence that

includes a subject and verb but does not form a sentence by itself. The main
relative pronouns are that, which, who, whom, what, and whose.

Reflexive pronouns refer back to the subject of a sentence or clause and are
formed by adding -self or -selves to a personal pronoun or possessive adjective,
as in myself, herself, ourselves, and itself.

Indefinite pronouns, such as everybody, either, none, and something, do not

refer to a specific person or thing, and typically refer to an unidentified or
unfamiliar person or thing.

The words it and there can also be used like pronouns when the rules of
grammar require a subject but no noun is actually being referred to. Both are
usually used at the beginning of a sentence or clause, as in "It was almost
noon" and "There is some cake left." These are sometimes referred to as
expletives.

4. Adjectives
Are words that describe the qualities or states of being of nouns: enormous,
doglike, silly, yellow, fun, fast. They can also describe the quantity of nouns:
many, few, millions, eleven.
Example:
Furry dogs may overheat in the summertime.
But adjectives can do more than just modify nouns. They can also act as a
complement to linking verbs or the verb to be. A linking verb is a verb like to
feel, to seem, or to taste that describes a state of being or a sensory
experience.
Juan is cute.
“cute” is an adjective.
5. Articles
Articles are words that define a noun as specific or unspecific.
Example
After the long day, the cup of tea tasted particularly good.

By using the article the, we’ve shown that it was one specific day that was long
and one specific cup of tea that tasted good.

The definite article

It limits the meaning of a noun to one particular thing. For example, your friend
might ask, “Are you going to the party this weekend?” The definite article tells
you that your friend is referring to a specific party that both of you know about.
Example:
Please, give me the cellphone.

The indefinite articles

It’s the word a when it precedes a word that begins with a consonant. It’s the
word an when it precedes a word that begins with a vowel. The indefinite
article indicates that a noun refers to a general idea rather than a particular
thing.
Example:
Please hand me a book.
Note: there are “an” and “a” we use an and the noun start with a consonant
and we use “an” when the noun start by a vowel.

6. Prepositions
Is a word that indicates the relationship between a noun and the other words
of a sentence.

They explain relationships of sequence, space, and logic between the object of
the sentence and the rest of the sentence.

They help us understand order, time connections, and positions.

Example:
1- I am going to Cuba.
“to” is a preposition
 Types of prepositions

1. Time
Show the relationship of time between the nouns to the other parts of a
sentence. On, at, in, from, to, for, since, ago, before, till/until, by, etc. are
the most common preposition of time.
Example:
1- He has been ill since Monday.
2. Place
Show the relationship of place between the nouns to the other parts of a
sentence. On, at, in, by, from, to, towards, up, down, across, between,
among, through, in front of, behind, above, over, under, below, etc. are the
most common prepositions of place/direction.
Example:

1- He is at home.

7. Conjunctions
Is a part of speech that is used to connect words, phrases, clauses, or
sentences. Conjunctions are considered to be invariable grammar particle, and
they may or may not stand between items they conjoin.
For example: and, as, because, but, or, just as…

Types of Conjunctions

There are several different types of conjunctions that do various jobs within
sentence structures. These include:

1- Subordinating conjunctions
Also known as subordinators, these conjunctions join dependent clauses to
independent clauses.
2- Coordinating conjunction
Also known as coordinators, these conjunctions coordinate or join two or more
sentences, main clauses, words, or other parts of speech which are of the same
syntactic importance.
3- Correlative conjunction
These conjunctions correlate, working in pairs to join phrases or words that
carry equal importance within a sentence.
8. Interjections
An interjection is a word or phrase that is grammatically independent from the
words around it, and mainly expresses feeling rather than meaning.

An interjection is a kind of exclamation inserted into regular speech. Actually, it

is a brief and abrupt pause in speech for expressing emotions.

Interjections are common in speech and are much more common in electronic
messages than in other types of writing.

Examples:
1- Oh, what a beautiful house!
2- Uh-oh, this looks bad.
3- Well, it's time to say good night.
4- Actually, um, it's not my dog.
5- Shoot. I thought I'd fixed that.
 1- Simple present
Is a verb tense with two main uses. We use the simple present tense when an
action is happening right now, or when it happens regularly (or unceasingly,
which is why it’s sometimes called present indefinite).

Depending on the person, the simple present tense is formed by using the root
form or by adding ‑s or ‑es to the end.
Example:
Martha loves pie.

How to form the simple present

In the simple present, most regular verbs use the root form, except in the third-
person singular (which ends in -s).

 First-person singular: I write

 Second-person singular: You write

 Third-person singular: He/she/it writes (note the ‑s)

 First-person plural: We write

 Second-person plural: You write

 Third-person plural: They write

For most regular verbs, you put the negation of the verb before the verb, e.g. “She
won’t go” or “I don’t smell anything.” The verb to be is irregular:

 First-person singular: I am

 Second-person singular: You are

 Third-person singular: He/she/it is

 First-person plural: We are

 Second-person plural: You are

 Third-person plural: They are

 How to Make the Simple Present Negative

The formula for making a simple present verb negative is do/does + not + root
form of verb. You can also use the contraction don’t or doesn’t instead of do
not or does not.
Example:
I am not a pie lover, but Pauline sure is. You aren’t ready for such delicious pie.

How to Ask a Question

The formula for asking a question in the simple present is do/does + subject +
root form of verb.
Example:
Do you know how to bake a pie? How much does Pauline love pie?

2- Present continuous
The present continuous verb tense indicates that an action or condition is
happening now, frequently, and may continue into the future.

The Present Continuous Formula: to be [am, is, are] + verb [present participle]
Example:
I am going home.

The present continuous (present progressive) tense is a way to convey any

action or condition that is happening right now, frequently, and may be
ongoing. It adds energy and action to writing, and its effect helps readers
understand when the action is happening.

3- Simple past
Is a verb tense that is used to talk about things that happened or existed before
now. Imagine someone asks what your brother Wolfgang did while he was in
town last weekend.
Example:
He won the silver medal.

The simple past tense shows that you are talking about something that has
already happened. Unlike the past continuous tense, which is used to talk
about past events that happened over a period of time, the simple past tense
emphasizes that the action is finished.
Example:
Wolfgang admired the way the light glinted off his silver medal.
 You can also use the simple past to talk about a past state of being, such as the
way someone felt about something. This is often expressed with the simple
past tense of the verb to be and an adjective, noun, or prepositional phrase.
Example:
Wolfgang was proud of his hula hoop victory.

How to Formulate the Simple Past

For regular verbs, add -ed to the root form of the verb (or just -d if the root
form already ends in an e):
Play—played
Love—loved

There are irregular verbs that change completely

Example
See—saw
Go—went

How to make the simple past negative

There is a formula for making simple past verbs negative, and it’s the same for
both regular and irregular verbs (except for the verb to be).
The formula is did not + [root form of verb].

Note: you can also use the contraction didn’t instead of did not.
Example:
I didn’t see the contest.

4- Future with will and be going to.

The future in English can be rather confusing. There are two future forms used
in most conversations: the future with "will" and the future with "going to."
The main difference between the two forms is that "going to" is used for plans
and intentions made before the moment of speaking, and the "will" to speak
about the future at the moment of speaking.

Future with will

Use the future with will to talk about an event in the future that you have just
decided to do, for predictions and for promises.
Examples:

 I think I'll go to that party next week.

 The economy will get better soon.
Will structure
Positive:
Subject + will + verb
Negative:
Subject + will + not (won't) + verb
Questions:
Question word + will + subject + verb

Future with going to

The future with "going to" is used to express events you have already planned
in the future and your intentions for the future. We sometimes also use the
present continuous for planned events in the near future.
Examples:

 She's going to attend university and study to become a doctor.

 We're going to make the presentation next week.

Going to structure

Positive:

Subject + to be + going to + verb

Negative:

Subject + to be + not + going to + verb

Questions:

(Question word) + to be + subject + going to + verb