Nouns are the elements that usually perform the action in a sentence, such as a person, place, thing, idea, emotion, animal, or event. Nouns include Sally, Paris, sand , philosophy , happiness, dog, and birthday. Adjectives modify nouns and describe aspects or characteristics of nouns. Adjectives include red, funny, lazy, large, and short. Pronouns take the place of nouns. There are personal subject pronouns (such as I, she, and they), personal object pronouns (such as us, you, it, and them), personal possessive pronouns (such as mine, yours, his, hers, and theirs), and relative pronouns (such as who, which, that, and whose). Verbs indicate actions or states of being and tell what the noun is doing. Verbs include run, sing, type, be, and walk. Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, conjunctions, prepositions, and other adverbs. They are words like quickly, well, and slowly. These words often end in –ly. Prepositions indicate relationships in time, space, or direction. Prepositions include to, in, on, over, of, and across. Conjunctions join nouns, clauses, phrases, and sentences. Coordinating conjunctions link independent clauses, and they are for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so (remember FANBOYS). Subordinating conjunctions link dependent clauses, and they include because, if, since, while, and although. Interjections are words that indicate emotions. These include oh, hey, ouch, and wow. They are often followed by exclamation points. Articles are used to modify and define nouns. The is a definite article, and a and an are the indefinite articles.
First-person singular: I Second-person singular: you Third-person singular: he (masculine) / she (feminine) / it (neuter) First-person plural: we Second-person plural: you Third-person plural: they
Frank (subject) quickly (adverb) mailed (verb) the (article) long (adjective) letter (object).
Simple present (uninflected verb, or verb + s/es in third person): I go, you go, he/she/it goes, we go, you go, they go. Present continuous (aka progressive) (am/is/are + present participle): I am going, you are going, he/she/it is going, we/you/they are going. Present perfect (has/have + past participle): I have gone, you have gone, he/she/it has gone, we/you/they have gone. Simple past (verb + –ed for regular verbs): I/you/he/she/it/we/you/they went (“to go” is an irregular verb). Past continuous (was/were + present participle): I was going, you were going, he/she/it was going, we/you/they were going. Past Perfect (had + past participle): I/you/he/she/it/we/you/they had gone. Simple future (will + uninflected verb): I/you/he/she/it/we/you/they will go. Future continuous (will be + present participle): I/you/he/she/it/we/you/they will be going. Future Perfect (will have + past participle): I/you/he/she/it/we/you/they will have gone.
Commas separate thoughts, ideas, elements, and independent clauses. Periods indicate the end of a sentence. Semicolons join independent clauses in a single sentence or separate elements in a list. Colons introduce items in a list, explanations, or definitions. Question marks indicate that a question was posed. Exclamation points show emphasis, imperatives, or declarations. Apostrophes demonstrate possession or create contractions. Quotation marks indicate that you are directly quoting someone else’s words. Hyphens join separate words into compound words, modifiers, and numbers. Dashes create a pause, interrupt a sentence, or add parenthetical information. Parenthesis add additional information, references, or citations.
Try reading aloud so that you also get an idea of how the language sounds in conversation. Keep a dictionary and thesaurus handy while reading. Read newspapers, listen to news radio, and watch televised news programs daily as well.
Try parroting what other people say by repeating it in order to understand how sentences are formed and to expand your vocabulary. Be warned that some English speakers, even native ones, don’t have a grasp of proper grammar.
Libraries, bookstores, and online resources will also offer grammar lessons, practice exercises, and quizzes
Don’t rely solely on grammar checkers. For one, they can be wrong. Second, you won’t learn from your mistakes if you don’t correct work yourself. If you do employ a grammar check or proofreading services, take the time to look over what changes were made so that you can learn what you did wrong.
Confusing it’s (a contraction of it is) and its (a possessive pronoun). Mixing up they’re (a contraction of they are), their (a possessive pronoun), and there (an adverb indicating place). Using you’re (a contraction of you are) and your (a possessive pronoun) incorrectly. Confusing too (which means in addition), to (a preposition) and two (the cardinal number that comes after one). Not using then (meaning at that time) and than (used to compare) correctly. Improperly using lie (meaning to be in a horizontal position) and lay (which means to place something in a horizontal position). Confusing farther (used with physical distance) and further (used with figurative or metaphorical distance).
Run-on sentences, where there is no punctuation separating independent clauses in the same sentence. This can be remedied by either placing a semicolon or period between the independent clauses. Comma splices, where independent clauses in a sentence are joined with a comma but without a proper coordinating conjunction. Instead of using just a comma, use a comma followed by the word “and” or “but. ” Using apostrophes to create plurals (they are used to create contractions or show possession, not create plurals). Improper use of quotation marks, which should only be used to indicate that you are directly quoting something someone said.
The active “I paid the bill” places the emphasis on what the subject did. The passive “The bill was paid by me” places the emphasis on who paid the bill.
Reflexive: “I pinched myself to see if I was dreaming. ” Intensive: “She individually picked each gift herself. ” Reflexive: “He asked himself how he’d feel in that situation. ” Intensive: “I myself don’t know how I’d react. ”
The Chicago Manual of Style, which is often used for social science and historical journals. The Modern Language Association (MLA) style, which is often used in the humanities, in language studies, and in cultural studies. The Associated Press (AP) style, which is used by most news and media outlets. The American Psychological Association (APA) style, which is often used for natural and life sciences, academic journals, and social sciences.
Purdue OWL is an excellent resource that has lessons and different style guide recommendations. [13] X Research source You can also subscribe to daily grammar emails and blogs from people like Grammar Girl. [14] X Research source
