Download Basics of English grammar

Basics of the English grammar
All you need to know about your own
language before you start learn
another language
PART 1: SENTENCE STRUCTURES
What is grammar?
• The structure of a specific language
• Each language has different grammatical
rules: some languages have tenses, others
not. Some languages have masculine and
feminine nouns, others not.
• Because differences in grammar, literal
translations usually don’t work.
A language is more than a random
combination of words.
Two main levels
• SENTENCE ANALYSIS
• WORD ANALYSIS
Here we split the sentence up
into different parts and we
analyse which function each
part has within a sentence.
Here we look at the name and
function of each word as such.
On top of the ‘lexical’ meaning
of the word, there are also
grammatical characteristics for
each word type.
Eg. ‘John is kind.’
‘I give John a kiss.’
Twice the same word (John), but a different function
within each sentence (subject vs indirect object)
Eg: play as a verb
play as a noun
1. Sentence structures
a) What is a sentence?
b) Which main parts do we have in a sentence?
c) How do we know which part is which?
a) What is a sentence?
A sentence is a combination of different sentence parts.
A sentence starts with a capital letter and finishes with a
full stop, question mark or explanation mark.
A the very least, a sentence will contain
a conjugated verb
a verb that goes together with a subject, or an
‘imperative’ (which has an implied subject)
Some sentences can be very
simple.
I play.
Sit down!
Others can contain ‘mini sentences’ within
sentences (we call these ‘clauses’) and they
can become very long and complicated:
‘The man I met yesterday at the train
station, which is recently renovated, is
supposed to be the father of John’s
second wife.
Sentences can be a combination of two
clauses who are equal in weight (importance).
Eg. ‘I like to play music and I enjoy swimming.’
Equally important
Or they can contain a subclause in a main
clause (a clause is something which contains a
verb or ‘doing word’)
Eg. ‘I met the man you had talked about.’
This subclause describes ‘the man’
Unconjugated verbs, loose words
etc
are not sentences.
We must have at least one
conjugated verb to have a proper
sentence.
Check: Is it a proper sentence?
• YES!
• NO!
I have played football.
Beautiful children.
We are happy.
To play tennis.
He has completed his homework.
When I came home.
Yesterday, I watched a good film.
When I grow up, I would like to
become a filmstar.
Played.
Watching tennis.
b) Which main parts do we have in a sentence?
SUBJECT
VERB
DIRECT OBJECT
INDIRECT OBJECT
ADVERBIAL
(of place, time etc)
c) How do we know which part is which?
The subject
SUBJECT
Conjugated VERB
To check whether
something is a
subject, change the ‘I’
to ‘he’ and see if the
verb form changes
Who? What? is
connected with the
main verb?
I am
He am
He is
Conjugated verb
SUBJECT
The direct object
SUBJECT
VERB
DIRECT OBJECT
To find out which
part the direct
object is, ask
Who/What
SUBJECT VERB?
WHO or WHAT?
I buy flowers.
WHAT DO I BUY?
flowers
Direct object
The indirect object
SUBJECT
VERB
INDIRECT OBJECT
DIRECT OBJECT
To find out which
part the indirect
object is, as TO
WHOM, SUBJECT
(INDIRECT OBJECT)
VERB
TO WHOM?
I buy my mother flowers
To/for whom do I buy
fowers?
My mother
Indirect object
The adverbial
SUBJECT
ADVERBIAL
Of place, time etc
VERB
INDIRECT OBJECT
The adverbial gives
additional information
about where, when
etc the action took
place. Sometimes it
can be as a mini
sentence (clause)
within a sentence.
DIRECT OBJECT
Where? When?
How?
I buy my mother flowers at the market near my house
Where do I buy the flowers?
At the market near my
house
Adverbial
•I love you.
•I met him yesterday.
•We played football in the park.
•I want to buy a new jacket.
•In the future, I will become a teacher.
•They are building a new house.
•He has taught her everything she needed to know to pass
her exam.
•My mother has recently been promoted at work.
I love you.
subject
I met him yesterday.
We played football in the park.
I want to buy a new jacket.
In the future, I will become a teacher.
They are building a new house.
He has taught her everything she needed to know to pass
her exam.
My mother has recently been promoted at work.
I love you.
subject
I met him yesterday.
direct object
We played football in the park.
I want to buy a new jacket.
In the future, I will become a teacher.
They are building a new house.
He has taught her everything she needed to know to pass
her exam.
My mother has recently been promoted at work.
I love you.
subject
I met him yesterday.
direct object
We played football in the park.
adverbial
I want to buy a new jacket.
In the future, I will become a teacher.
They are building a new house.
He has taught her everything she needed to know to pass
her exam.
My mother has recently been promoted at work.
I love you. subject
I met him yesterday.
direct object
We played football in the park.
adverbial
I want to buy a new jacket. direct object
In the future, I will become a teacher.
They are building a new house.
He has taught her everything she needed to know to pass
her exam.
My mother has recently been promoted at work.
I love you. subject
I met him yesterday.
direct object
We played football in the park. adverbial
I want to buy a new jacket.
direct object
In the future, I will become a teacher.
subject
They are building a new house.
He has taught her everything she needed to know to pass
her exam.
My mother has recently been promoted at work.
I love you. subject
I met him yesterday. direct object
We played football in the park. adverbial
I want to buy a new jacket. direct object
In the future, I will become a teacher. subject
They are building a new house. subject
He has taught her everything she needed to know to pass
her exam.
My mother has recently been promoted at work.
I love you. subject
I met him yesterday.
direct object
We played football in the park. adverbial
I want to buy a new jacket. direct object
In the future, I will become a teacher. subject
They are building a new house. subject
He has taught her everything she needed to know to pass
her exam. direct object
My mother has recently been promoted at work.
I love you. subject
I met him yesterday.
direct object
We played football in the park. adverbial
I want to buy a new jacket. direct object
In the future, I will become a teacher. subject
They are building a new house. subject
He has taught her everything she needed to know to pass
her exam. direct object
My mother has recently been promoted at work. adverbial
RECAP
How will your
understanding of
sentence
structures help
you when learning
a foreign language
(tongue)?
• Do you know what makes up a
real sentence?
• Which main parts can we find
in a basic sentence?
• How do we find the subject
within a sentence?
• Which question do we ask to
find the direct object?
• Which question do we ask to
find the indirect object?
• Which question do we ask to
find the adverbial(s)?