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Grammar Study Sheet
I. Word Order
A. English is a subject verb object language: it prefers a sequence of
subject–verb–object in its simplest, unmarked declarative statements.
B. Interrogative sentences invert word order.
C. English also sees some use of the OSV (object-subject-verb) word
order, especially when making comparisons using pronouns that are
marked for case.
D. Far more rare, but still sometimes used is OVS (object-verb-subject).
II. Nouns
A. In English, nouns generally describe persons, places, things, and
abstract ideas, and are treated as grammatically distinct from verbs.
B. English nouns, in general, are not marked for case or gender, but are
marked for number and definiteness.
1. Gender is assigned to animate objects based on biological
gender.
2. Gender is assigned to personified objects based on social
conventions.
C. The categorization of nouns is typically expressed by one or more of
the elements called deictic, numerative, epithet, and classifier.
1. Deictic
a. The deictic element indicates whether or not a specific
subset of a noun is intended.
b. Subsets are demonstrative and possessive
2. Numerative
a. English nouns are typically inflected for number, having
distinct singular and plural forms.
b. Ordinarily, the singular form is used when discussing
one instance of the noun's referent, and the plural form is
used when discussing any other number of instances.
3. Epithet
a. A definite article such as "the" is used to refer to a
specific instance of the noun, often already mentioned in
the context or easy to identify.
b. An indefinite article such as "a" or "an" is used to refer
to a generic instance of the noun.
3. Classifier
a. Historically, English used to mark nouns for case, and
the two remnants of this case marking are the pronominal
system and the possessive clitic.
b. The possessive is marked by a clitic at the end of the
possessing noun phrase.
III. Verbs
A. In English, verbs generally describe actions, and can also be used to
describe certain states of being.
B. Verbs come in a large array of tenses, some moods, two voices, and are
marked for person.
C. Verbs in English are marked in limited fashion for person.
1. Person cannot generally be inferred from the conjugation
attached to the verb.
D. Verbs come in many tenses.
1. Past
a. Perfect
b. Simple
c. Continuous
2. Present
a. Perfect
b. Simple
c. Continuous
3. Future
a. Perfect
b. Simple
c. Continuous
4. Conditional
a. Present
b. Present continuous
c. Perfect
d. Perfect Continuous
IV. Adjectives/Adverbs
A. Adjectives
1. Modify nouns.
2. Precede the noun that they follow.
B. Adverbs
1. Modify verbs.
2. Could precede or follow the adjective that they modify.
C. Adjectives can be changed to adverbs with the addition of –ly at the
end in many cases