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Basic Grammar

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It is a cliché: learn the rules before breaking them. Unfortunately, many writers lack basic knowledge of grammar. American schools stopped asking students to diagram sentences many years ago. Possibly worse, American English dictionaries and grammar guides increasingly accept non-standard word usages. While far from comprehensive, this writers’ guide to basic grammar might prove useful.

Parts of Speech

The basic parts of speech are noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, interjection, and various “doubles.”

Noun (n.)

A noun is a person, place, thing, collection, quality, condition, or idea. Many modern texts abbreviate this definition as person, place, thing, or idea. A proper noun is a name of a particular person or thing and is capitalized. Other nouns are referred to as common nouns. Titles of books or other creative materials are proper nouns. [More Detail]

Pronoun (pr.)

A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a preceding noun or an understood subject. Pronouns often are used to avoid repeating a noun within a sentence or paragraph. The noun that appears within a passage before the pronoun is called the pronoun’s antecedent. [More Detail]

Verb (v.)

Most verbs make a statement, ask a question, or give a command. Conjugations of the verb “to be” express a state of being. Verbs are a complex part of speech because they convey the purpose of a sentence. [More Detail]

The “tense” of a verb describes an action's relationship to time. Present tense verbs usually end in -ing. Past tense verbs often end in -ed, d, or t. We have compiled a list of common irregular verbs.

Verbals: Participles, Gerunds, and Infinitives

There are three special forms of verbs: participles, gerunds, and infinitives. A participle is a verb used as an adjective. Participles are doubles. Verbs ending in “-ing” act as nouns and are known as gerunds. The infinitive of a verb is the word “to” followed by the first person present tense form of the verb. Note: “to be” is an exception to this rule.

Conjugations of “To Be”

Adjective (adj.)

A word that describes a noun or pronoun. Adjectives modify nouns and pronouns by answering “which?” “what kind?” or “how many?” Adjectives frequently refer to color, shape, size, origins, or type. [More Detail]

Adjectives have three degrees of comparison: positive, comparative, and superlative. The positive degree is the standard form of the adjective. The comparative compares two nouns and is formed by adding -er to the adjective. A superlative compares one noun to any number of others and is formed by adding -est. Some multi-syllable adjectives require “more” for the comparative form and “most” for the superlative.

Common Adjective Suffixes

Writers should avoid extra adjectives.

1. Omit adjectives if the noun implies the meaning. Example: The frozen snow chilled her to the bone. (Snow is frozen.)
2. Reserve emotional adjectives for people. Example: The wicked wind destroyed the house. (Wind cannot be wicked.)
3. Replace adjective-noun unions with a single, precise, noun. Example: Preceding the hurricane, the heavy rain flooded streets. (Replace heavy rain with downpour.)

Articles

Articles define “which?” noun. “The” is a definite article referring to one noun. “A” and “an” are indefinite articles.

Adverb (adv.)

Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs by answering “when?” “where?” “how?” “how much?” or “how often?” Many adverbs end in -ly, -ward, -long, and -wise. [More Detail]

Adverbs have three degrees of comparison: positive, comparative, and superlative. The positive degree is the standard form of the adjective. The comparative is formed by preceding the adverb with “more.” A superlative compares one noun’s manner of action to any number of others and is formed by preceding the adverb with “most.” Some one syllable adverbs behave like adjectives and use -er for the comparative and -est for the superlative.

Preposition (prep.)

Prepositions express a relationship of a noun or pronoun to another word or phrase in the sentence. Most often a noun or noun equivalent follows the preposition. A prepositional phrase includes the preposition, its object, and any modifiers. [More Detail]

Common Prepositions

Compound Prepositions (Avoid Using)

Conjunction (conj.)

A conjunction connects words or groups of words. [More Detail]

Common Conjunctions

Interjection (i.)

An interjection is a word or group of words that express strong or sudden emotions. [More Detail]

Doubles (part/part)

A double is a word that performs the functions of two parts of speech simultaneously. There are six common forms for doubles:

1. Possessive nouns act as nouns and adjectives.
2. Possessive pronouns act as nouns and adjectives.
3. Adverbial nouns act like adverbs and nouns.
4. Participles act as verbs and adjectives.
5. Gerunds act as verbs and nouns.
6. Infinitives act as verbs and nouns; verbs and adjectives; or verbs and adverbs.

Adverbial Nouns

Adverbial nouns act as adverbs by indicating distance, time, weight, or value. Adverbial nouns are sometimes called adverbial objectives.

Example: The large cat might weigh twenty pounds.
The noun phrase “twenty pounds” answers the adverbial question “how much?” The word “pounds” is a noun.

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Sources

Barnet, Sylvan, Pat Bellanca, and Marcia Stubbs. A Short Guide to College Writing. Penguin Academics. 2nd ed. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2005. (ISBN: 0321224698)

Christ, Henry I. Modern English in Action, Ten. Boston: D. C. Heath and Co, 1965.

Ellsworth, Blanche and John A. Higgens. English Simplified. 10th ed. New York: Pearson Education, 2004. (ISBN: 0321104293)

Hacker, Diana. The Bedford Handbook. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford, 1998. (ISBN: 0312247567)

________. Pocket Style Manual. 4th ed. Boston: Bedford, 2004. (ISBN: 0312406843)

Meyers, Alan. Writing With Confidence: Writing Effective Sentences and Paragraphs. 6th ed. New York: Longman, 2000. (ISBN: 0321038010, 0321044460)

Mulvey, Dan. Grammar the Easy Way. Hauppauge, N.Y: Barron’s, 2002. (ISBN: 0764119893)

Ramage, John D., John C. Bean, and June Johnson. The Allyn & Bacon Guide to Writing. 4th ed., brief. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2006. (ISBN: 0321291514)

Rozakis, Laurie E. Grammar and Style. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to. New York: Simon & Schuster, Alpha Books, 1997. (ISBN: 0028619560)

Scholastic Writer’s Desk Reference. New York: Scholastic, 2000. (ISBN: 0439216508)

Shertzer, Margaret. The Elements of Grammar. New York: MacMillian Publishing, 1986. (ISBN: 0020154402)

Strunk, William and E. B. White. The Elements of Style. 3rd ed. New York: MacMillan Publishing, 1959. Reprint 1979. (ISBN: 0024182001)

Writer: C. S. Wyatt
Updated: 06-Aug-2012
Editor: S. D. Schnelbach