Grammar

Definition of grammar - the whole system and structure of a language, usually taken as consisting of syntax and morphology (including inflections) and sometimes also phonology and semantics. Grammar controls how language is constructed - it is the structural rules set in place in order to control language.

In particular, there are three main aspects of grammar.

Word classes - This is the categorized words which are put into groups based on their function.

Syntax - This is the set of rules that determines where each word class should appear in a sentence.

Morphology - This describes the individual construction of each word.

Eight main word classes:

Word classes	Meaning	Example
Nouns This belongs to the open lexical word class.	A noun is either an object, a place or a name.  Nouns are split into two different categories – a normal noun and proper noun. When describing a person or place, this is referred to as a proper noun.	An example of a noun is London, Book, and Romance.
Adjectives This belongs to the open lexical word class.	An adjective is a describing word which usually gives extra information about a noun.	For example – Large, Sunny, severe, etc.
Verbs This belongs to the open lexical word class.	A verb is a doing word that describes actions and feelings. Another type of verb is a modal verb – these create a particular mood.	For example, return, jump, read, jog, sing, and run.
Adverbs This belongs to the open lexical word class.	An Adverb is a word that describes a verb. This word usually ends in a ‘’ly’’. It describes how something happens.	An example of an adverb is joyfully, steadily, happily, incredibly.
Pronouns This belongs to the closed grammatical word class.	A pronoun replaces a noun or proper noun. A different type of pronoun is a possessive pronoun – this shows possession. However, a possessive pronoun is more personal.	For example, you, them, him, it. Possessive pronoun examples - mine, yours, his, hers.
Conjunctions This belongs to the closed grammatical word class.	A conjunction is another word for a connective. This is where it joins elements of a sentence together.	For example – But, However, on the other hand, because, and, but.
Prepositions This belongs to the closed grammatical word class.	This defines relationships between words - this is usually in terms of space, time or direction.	An example of a preposition is Before, underneath, through, below.

However, the syntax controls how these grammatical rules work within a sentence. People will instinctively know/be aware of the structure of a sentence. We can also notice when a sentence looks badly arranged. For example, if someone said ‘doctor she the yesterday saw’ - it is clearly wrong. Sometimes, the meaning of a sentence can change, simply depending on the position of the word.

An example sentence of all the word classes working together;

She saw the new manager and his assistant at the store yesterday

Pronoun, verb, determiner, adjective, noun, conjunction, determiner, noun, preposition, determiner, noun, adverb.

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Tenses

Events that happened in the past are described in past tense. Although sometimes in spoken and written discourse, past events may be described using present tense forms.

example of past tense -  She waked to the shop and bought some sweets.

example of present tense - She walks up to the shop and buys some sweets.

If it is past tense, there is a clear indication that some time has passed since the actual event. However, present tense creates a more immediate and dramatic impact.

Plurals

Words can either be plural or single.

For example, a ‘lady’ is a single word, whilst ‘ladies’ is a plural word as it is describing more than one.

Using a singular form creates the impression of a specific body of people.

However, my making it plural, it reflects people on a larger scale.

Adjectives

There are two different types - either simple or superlative.

A comparative is where something is compared to something else, whilst a superlative is more exaggerated and compares three or more nouns.

For example - Best and better.