Odeña, Thamiah Izabell B.

BSE-English 1A

GRAMMATICAL UNITS AND PROCESSES

GRAMMAR

I. Introduction
Grammar is the rules of a language governing the sounds, words, sentences, and other
elements, as well as their combination and interpretation. The word grammar also denotes the
study of these abstract features or a book presenting these rules. In a restricted sense, the term
refers only to the study of sentence and word structure (syntax and morphology), excluding
vocabulary and pronunciation.

A common contemporary definition of grammar is the underlying structure of a language

that any native speaker of that language knows intuitively. The systematic description of the
features of a language is also a grammar. These features are
the phonology (sound), morphology (system of word formation), syntax (patterns of word
arrangement), and semantics (meaning). Depending on the grammarian’s approach, a grammar
can be prescriptive (provide rules for correct usage), descriptive (describe how a language is
actually used), or generative (provide instructions for the production of an infinite number of
sentences in a language). The traditional focus of inquiry has been on morphology and syntax, and
for some contemporary linguists (and many traditional grammarians) this is the only proper
domain of the subject.

II. Body

There are different well-known authors that defined grammar and one of those authors is
Noam Chomsky states that generative grammar is a theory of grammar that holds the human
language is shaped by a set of basic principles that are part of the human brain. This “universal
grammar”, according to linguist like Chomsky comes from our innate language faculty. While
David Crystal defined grammar as the study of all the contrast of meaning that is possible to
make within the sentence. The ‘rules’ of grammar tell us how. By one count, there are some
3,500 such rules in English. But according to W. Nelson Francis, grammar is the set of formal
patterns in which the words of language are arranged in order to convey larger meanings. The
branch of linguistic science which is concerned with the description, analysis, and formulation
of formal language patterns. Richard Nordquist also defined grammar and according to him,
the word grammar comes from Greek, meaning “craft of letter” which is an apt description.
While the Oxford English Dictionary defines grammar as the department of the be study of a
language which deals with its flexional forms or other means of indicating the relations of word
in the sentence, and with the rules of employing these in accordance with established usage;
usually including also the department which deals with the phonetic system of the language
and the principles of its representation of writing. Huddleston says that the term “grammar”
is used in the number of different senses. The grammar of a language may be understood to
be a full description of the form and meaning of the sentence of the language or else it may
cover only certain, variously delimited, parts of such description. Here we shall use it in one of
these narrower senses, embracing syntax and morphology. And according to Hartwell
grammar A set of formal patterns in which the words of a language are arranged to covey
larger meaning. The branch of linguistics concerned with the description, analysis, and
formulation of a formal language pattern.

The English language has some useful rules for the learner to know. For example: that most
nouns add an -s in the plural, that adverbs are formed by adding -ly to the adjective, that the
usual word order is Subject-Verb-Object. However, much of English grammar cannot be
predicted from general rules, especially the behavior of individual words. The student of
English has to learn case-by-case how these words work. This aspect of the English language is
often called usage (word grammar).

A common usage problem for learners is predicting how certain common verbs should be
used, particularly in reported speech. For example, you can say both: I command you to
go and I command that you go. But you can only say: I insist that you go; I insist you to go is
wrong. The words quite and not only also cause usage problems:

Quite: This word has two very different meanings, dependent on the adjective that it qualifies.
The sentence She's quite clever means she is not very, but reasonably, fairly, rather clever.
The sentence She's quite beautiful! means she is very, very beautiful, perfectly beautiful. (To
understand these different meanings you need to know that clever is a gradable adjective,
and beautiful is a non-gradable adjective.)

Not only: This expression is a cohesive device used to alert the reader/listener that a second
item or example is coming next (usually introduced by the words but .. also). He is not only
stupid, but he is also rude and loud. If the expression is used at the beginning of the sentence,
then the subject and verb must be inverted (and, in some cases, an auxiliary added): Not only
is he stupid, but he is also rude and loud. Not only did he put his pen in the electricity socket,
but he also screamed at me when I tried to stop him.

Here are 20 simple rules and tips to help you avoid mistakes in English grammar.

1. A sentence starts with a capital letter and ends with a period/full stop, a question mark or
an exclamation mark.
 The fat cat sat on the mat.
 Where do you live?
 My dog is very clever!
2. The order of a basic positive sentence is Subject-Verb-Object. (Negative and question
sentences may have a different order.)
 John loves Mary.
 They were driving their car to Bangkok.
3. Every sentence must have a subject and a verb. An object is optional. Note that an
imperative sentence may have a verb only, but the subject is understood.
 John teaches.
 John teaches English.
 Stop! (ie You stop!)
4. The subject and verb must agree in number, that is a singular subject needs a singular verb
and a plural subject needs a plural verb.
 John works in London.
 That monk eats once a day.
 John and Mary work in London.
 Most people eat three meals a day.
5. When two singular subjects are connected by or, use a singular verb. The same is true
for either/or and neither/nor.
 John or Mary is coming tonight.
 Either coffee or tea is fine.
 Neither John nor Mary was late.
6. Adjectives usually come before a noun (except when a verb separates the adjective from
the noun).
 I have a big dog.
 She married a handsome Italian man.
 (Her husband is rich.)
7. When using two or more adjectives together, the usual order is opinion-adjective + fact-
adjective + noun. (There are some additional rules for the order of fact adjectives.)
 I saw a nice French table.
 That was an interesting Shakespearian play.
8. Treat collective nouns (eg committee, company, board of directors) as singular OR plural. In
BrE a collective noun is usually treated as plural, needing a plural verb and pronoun. In AmE a
collective noun is often treated as singular, needing a singular verb and pronoun.
 The committee are having sandwiches for lunch. Then they will go to London. (typically
BrE)
 The BBC have changed their logo. (typically BrE)
 My family likes going to the zoo. (typically AmE)
 CNN has changed its logo. (typically AmE)
9. The words its and it's are two different words with different meanings.
 The dog has hurt its leg.
 He says it's two o'clock.
10. The words your and you're are two different words with different meanings.
 Here is your coffee.
 You're looking good.
11. The words there, their and they're are three different words with different meanings.
 There was nobody at the party.
 I saw their new car.
 Do you think they're happy?
12. The contraction he's can mean he is OR he has. Similarly, she's can mean she is OR she has,
and it's can mean it is OR it has, and John's can mean John is OR John has.
 He is working
 He has finished.
 She is here.
 She has left.
 John is married.
 John has divorced his wife.
13. The contraction he'd can mean he had OR he would. Similarly, they'd can mean they
had OR they would.
 He had eaten when I arrived.
 He would eat more if possible.
 They had already finished.
 They would come if they could.
14. Spell a proper noun with an initial capital letter. A proper noun is a "name" of something,
for example Josef, Mary, Russia, China, British Broadcasting Corporation, English.
 We have written to Mary.
 Is China in Asia?
 Do you speak English?
15. Spell proper adjectives with an initial capital letter. Proper adjectives are made from proper
nouns, for example Germany → German, Orwell → Orwellian, Machiavelli → Machiavellian.
 London is an English town.
 Who is the Canadian prime minister?
 Which is your favourite Shakespearian play?
16. Use the indefinite article a/an for countable nouns in general. Use the definite
article the for specific countable nouns and all uncountable nouns.
 I saw a bird and a balloon in the sky. The bird was blue and the balloon was yellow.
 He always saves some of the money that he earns.
17. Use the indefinite article a with words beginning with a consonant sound. Use the
indefinite article an with words beginning with a vowel sound. see When to Say a or an
a cat, a game of golf, a human endeavour, a Frenchman, a university (you-ni-ver-si-ty)
an apple, an easy job, an interesting story, an old man, an umbella, an honorable man (on-o-
ra-ble)
18. Use many or few with countable nouns. Use much/a lot or little for uncountable nouns.
 How many dollars do you have?
 How much money do you have?
 There are a few cars outside.
 There is little traffic on the roads.
19. To show possession (who is the owner of something) use an apostrophe + s for singular
owners, and s + apostrophe for plural owners.
 The boy's dog. (one boy)
  The boys' dog. (two or more boys)
20. In general, use the active voice (Cats eat fish) in preference to the passive voice (Fish are
eaten by cats).
 We use active in preference to passive.
 Active is used in preference to passive.

III. Conclusion

It is important to know the rules of grammar. If you want to speak English well, you
need to know the correct order of words. You can do this by learning collocations, phrases,
and sentences, not by memorizing rules. Following those rules will help us to organize or
sentences. When you speak and write, we have to put the words in the right order so that
people will understand what you are saying or writing. But not all the time English
sentences follows rule. A rule is something that you can or cannot do, or what you are
allowed or not allowed to do.

IV. Reflection

On doing the analysis is have realized that studying grammar is really hard. I can't
just sit and listen to my classmates about their reports. I realized that I also have to initiate
on studying and mastering grammar. While doing the analysis I startled while reading the
rules of grammar. There are a lot of rules that I have to memorize that will give a huge help
for me as an English teacher in the future. Studying grammar while help us to have a better
communication skill and for us to express ourselves clearly to other people. I also realized
that being an English teacher is that easy and honestly, I always ask myself if this course
really suits me. But I know that all the hardships that we’re encountering is very fruitful at
the end.

PARTS OF SENTENCE
I. Introduction

A sentence is a group of words giving a complete thought. A sentence must contain

a subject and a verb. There are four types of sentences the Declarative sentence, Imperative
sentence, Interrogative sentence, and Exclamatory Sentence. The Four Sentence Structures
A sentence can consist of a single clause or several clauses. When a sentence is a single clause, it
is called a simple sentence (and the clause is called an independent clause). A sentence must
contain at least one independent clause.

II. Body

Sentences consist of a number of parts, using different parts of speech. The most important parts
of speech are:
Required Parts of a Sentence
Subject
In general, the subject refers to the part of the sentence that tells who or what the sentence is
about. The subject is a noun, pronoun or noun phrase. For example:
 Kelly walked down the street.
 They went to school.
 The black cat is sleeping.
While "Kelly" and "They" are single-word subjects, "The black cat" is a noun phrase that includes
an adjective to provide additional information about the subject.
There are a few different types of subjects. A simple subject is just one word, without any
modifiers, usually a noun or pronoun. A complete subject is the simple subject plus all modifiers.
A compound subject is made up of more than one subject element. For example:
 Simple subject: Kate is a thin girl.
 Complete subject: Jeffrey's poem about his mother made the class cry.
 Compound subject: Paul and Tommy joined the soccer team at the same time.
Predicate
The predicate of a sentence includes the verb and everything that follows it. This typically tells
what the subject does with an action verb or describes the subject using a linking verb and a
complement.
Let's return to the first example sentence:
 Kelly walked down the street.
In this sentence, "walked" is the action verb that tells the reader what Kelly is doing, and "down
the street" is an adverb phrase that modifies the verb by describing where she walked. All of these
words make up the complete predicate of the sentence. The verb alone is the simple predicate.
As with subjects, it's also possible to have a compound predicate that consists of two different
actions. Take a look at the examples below to note the differences:
 Simple predicate: Harry cried.
 Complete predicate: The mouse slowly ran towards the food.
 Compound predicate: She laughed at the dog's tricks and decided to adopt him.
Predicates can contain a good deal of information and may be quite long. Predicates often have
several parts in addition to the verb, including objects and complements.
Optional Parts of a Sentence
Object
Objects are noun phrases that are included in the predicate. They are the things being acted upon
by the verb. For example:
 Susan bought the gift.
 The dog caught the ball.
 The boy spilled the milk.
In each of these sentences, there is a direct object in the predicate. It is the thing being acted
upon; for example, the gift is the thing given by Susan.
It's also possible to have an indirect object that includes more information about the person or
thing towards which the action is directed. For example:
 Susan bought him the gift.
 He wrote them a long letter.
 The man gave her an ultimatum.
In the sentence "Susan bought him the gift," "him" is an indirect object because he is not the item
bought at the store, but rather the person for whom the action was completed.
Complement
In predicates that use linking verbs rather than action verbs, items following the verb are known
as complements. Complements modify the subject by describing it further. For example:
 I am a teacher.
 The cat was the laziest creature.
 The woman seems smart.
In these cases, the words following the linking verb describe the subject, whether they are nouns,
noun phrases or adjectives.
To write a complete sentence, you must include at least a subject and a predicate. If you only
include one of these, you will have only a sentence fragment, which is grammatically incorrect.
Modifier
Modifiers are words or phrases that describe parts of the sentence by adding additional
information. Adjectives modify nouns and pronouns, while adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and
other adverbs. It is possible for parts of speech to do this work alone in the sentence in either the
subject or the predicate. For example:
 The blue boat sank.
 The boat slowly sank.
In the first example, the adjective modifies the subject, but in the second example, the adverb
modifies the simple predicate.
Adverbial
Not all modifiers are single words. Sometimes they are groups of words that work together. When
these words are in the predicate and explain how, when, where or why the action was performed,
they are known as an adverbial. For example:
 She exercised in the morning.
 The boy reached out to the teacher for help.
 I skipped school because I was sick.
Each adverbial above modifies the verb, therefore performing the function of an adverb in the
sentence. The first two examples are adverbial phrases - groups of words that function as an
adverb but don't contain a subject and a verb. The final example is an adverbial clause, which
performs the same function but does contain a subject and a verb. Adverbial clauses are
dependent clauses and are not complete sentences on their own.
Modifiers are optional when it comes to writing sentences since they merely give additional
information and are not required the way a subject and verb are. Note that complements are
considered to be a type of modifier as well.

The Four Types of Sentence

There are four types of sentence. (A sentence can convey a statement, a question, an
exclamation or a command.)

A Declarative Sentence.
A declarative sentence states a fact and ends with a period (full stop). For example:
 He has every attribute of a dog except loyalty. (Politician Thomas P Gore)
 I wonder if other dogs think poodles are members of a weird religious cult.
(Comedian Rita Rudner)
(Remember that a statement which contains an indirect question (like this
example) is not a question.)
An Imperative Sentence.
An imperative sentence is a command or a polite request. It ends with an exclamation
mark or a period (full stop). For example:
 When a dog runs at you, whistle for him. (Philosopher Henry David Thoreau,
1817-1862)
An Interrogative Sentence.
An interrogative sentence asks a question and ends with a question mark. For example:
 Who knew that dog saliva can mend a broken heart? (Author Jennifer Neal)
An Exclamatory Sentence.
An exclamatory sentence expresses excitement or emotion. It ends with an exclamation
mark. For example:
  In Washington, its dog eat dog. In academia, it's exactly the opposite!
(Politician Robert Reich)

The Four Sentence Structures

A sentence can consist of a single clause or several clauses. When a sentence is a single
clause, it is called a simple sentence (and the clause is called an independent clause). A sentence
must contain at least one independent clause. Below are the four types of sentence structure (with
their independent clauses shaded:

A Complex Sentence.
A complex sentence has an independent clause and at least one dependent clause. For
example:
 Diplomacy is the art of saying "nice doggie" until you can find a rock. (Actor
Will Rogers, 1879-1935)
 When you're on the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog. (Cartoonist Peter
Steiner)
A Compound Sentence.
A compound sentence has at least two independent clauses. For example:

 Cry "Havoc," and let slip the dogs of war. (Playwright William Shakespeare,
1564-1616)
A Simple Sentence.
A simple sentence has just one independent clause. For example:
 You can't surprise a man with a dog. (Screenwriter Cindy Chupack)
A Compound-Complex Sentence.
A compound-complex sentence has at least two independent clauses and at least one
dependent clause. For example:

 When a dog bites a man, that is not news because it happens so often, but if
a man bites a dog, that is news. (Editor John B Bogart)

III. Conclusion

The required parts of the sentence is the subject and predicate while the optional parts of
the sentence are the object (direct and indirect), complement, adverbial (clauses and phrases, and
modifiers. These parts are a set of terms for describing how people construct sentences from
smaller pieces. There is not a direct correspondence between the parts of the sentence and the
parts of speech -- the subject of a sentence, could be a noun, a pronoun, or even an entire phrase
or clause. Like the parts of speech, however, the parts of the sentence form part of the basic
vocabulary of grammar, and it is important that you take some time to learn and understand them.
There is also four types of sentence the Declarative, Imperative, Interrogative, and Exclamatory.
There is also four structure of sentence the Complex, Compound, Simple, and Compound-
Complex.

IV. Reflection
While doing the comprehensive analysis I have realized that the basic parts of the sentence
is one of the most important on studying grammar. Because the parts of speech shows us how the
words relate to each other. For example, let's take the words "other," "love" and "each."
Now, they are just words, they don't really tell us something. But, as soon as we assign each word
a role (a part of speech), and put them into a sentence, we actually get something meaningful
"Love each other." By knowing the parts of sentences, we will be able to write sentences correctly,
write better paragraphs, and express our thoughts clearly.

NOUN PHRASE AND VERB PHRASE

I. Introduction

A phrase is two or more words that do not contain the subject-verb pair necessary to
form a clause. Phrases can be very short or quite long. Certain phrases have specific names
based on the type of word that begins or governs the word group: noun phrase, verb phrase,
prepositional phrase, infinitive phrase, participle phrase, gerund phrase, and absolute phrase.

II. Body

Noun Phrases
A noun phrase includes a noun—a person, place, or thing—and the modifiers— either
before or after—which distinguish it. The pattern looks like this:

O P T I O N A L M O D I F I E R ( S ) + N OUN + O P T I O N A L M O D I F I E R ( S )

Here are some examples:

The shoplifted pair of jeans Pair = noun;

the, shoplifted, of jeans = modifiers.

A cat that refused to meow

Cat = noun; a, that refused to meow = modifiers.

A great English teacher

Teacher = noun; a, great, English = modifiers.

Noun phrases function as subjects, objects, and complements:

 The shoplifted pair of jeans caused Nathaniel so much guilt that he couldn't wear them.
The shoplifted pair of jeans = subject.

Jerome adopted a cat that refused to meow.

A cat that refused to meow = direct object.

With her love of Shakespeare and knowledge of grammar, Jasmine will someday be a
great English teacher.
A great English teacher = subject complement.

Verb Phrases
Sometimes a sentence can communicate its meaning with a one-word verb. Other times,
however, a sentence will use a verb phrase, a multi-word verb, to express more nuanced action or
condition. A verb phrase can have up to four parts. The pattern looks like this:
AUXILIARYVERB(S)+MAINVERB+VERB ENDING WHEN NECESSARY
Here are some examples:

Had cleaned
Had = auxiliary verb; clean = main verb; ed = verb ending.

Should have been writing

Should, have, been = auxiliary verbs; write = main verb; ing = verb ending.

Must wash
Must = auxiliary verb; wash = main verb.

Here are the verb phrases in action:

Mom had just cleaned the refrigerator shelves when Lawrence knocked over the pitcher of
orange juice.
Sarah should have been writing her research essay, but she couldn't resist another short
chapter in her Stephen King novel.
If guests are coming for dinner, we must wash our smelly dog!
Pre-positional Phrases
At the minimum, a prepositional phrase will begin with a preposition and end with a noun,
pronoun, gerund, or clause, the "object" of the preposition.
 The object of the preposition will often have one or more modifiers to describe it. These
are the patterns for a prepositional phrase:
P R E P O S I T I O N + N OUN , P R O N O U N , G E R U N D , O R C L A U S E P R E P O S I T
I O N + M O D I F I E R ( S ) + N OUN , P R O N O U N , G E R U N D , O R C L A U S E
Here are some examples:

On time
On = preposition; time = noun.

Underneath the sagging yellow couch

Underneath = preposition; the, sagging, yellow = modifiers; couch = noun.

From eating too much

From = preposition; eating = gerund; too, much = modifiers.

A prepositional phrase will function as an adjective or adverb. As an adjective, the prepositional

phrase will answer the question Which one?

The spider above the kitchen sink has just caught a fat fly.
Which spider? The one above the kitchen sink!

The librarian at the check-out desk smiles whenever she collects a late fee.
Which librarian? The one at the check-out desk!

The vegetables on Noel's plate lay untouched the entire meal.

Which vegetables? The ones on Noel's plate!

As an adverb, a prepositional phrase will answer questions such as How? When? or Where?

While sitting in the cafeteria, Jack catapulted peas with a spoon.

How did Jack launch those peas? With a spoon!

After breakfast, we piled the dirty dishes in the sink.

When did we ignore the dirty dishes? After breakfast!

Amber finally found the umbrella wedged under the passenger's front seat.
Where did Amber locate the umbrella? Under the passenger's front seat!

Infinitive Phrases
 An infinitive phrase will begin with an infinitive [to + simple form of the verb]. It will often
include objects and/or modifiers that complete the thought. The pattern looks like this:
INFINITIVE+OBJECT(S)AND/OR MODIFIER(S)
Here are some examples:
To slurp spaghetti
To send the document before the deadline
To gulp the glass of water with such thirst that streams of liquid ran down his chin and wet
the front of his already sweat-soaked shirt
Infinitive phrases can function as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs. Look at these examples:
To avoid another lecture from Michelle on the benefits of vegetarianism was Aaron's
hope for their date at a nice restaurant.
To avoid another lecture from Michelle on the benefits of vegetarianism functions as a
noun because it is the subject of the sentence.

Cheryl plans to take microbiology next semester when Professor Crum, a pushover, is
teaching the course.
To take microbiology next semester functions as a noun because it is the direct object for
the verb plans.

The worst thing to happen during the severe thunderstorm was a lightning strike that
fried Clara's computer.
To happen during the severe thunderstorm functions as an adjective because it modifies
thing.

Ryan decided to mow the long grass on the front lawn to keep his neighbors from
complaining to the homeowners association.
To keep his neighbors from complaining to the homeowners association functions as an
adverb because it explains why Ryan mowed the lawn.

Participle Phrases
A participle phrase will begin with a present or past participle. If the participle is present,
it will dependably end in ing. Likewise, a regular past participle will end in a consistent ed. Irregular
past participles, unfortunately, conclude in all kinds of ways.
Since all phrases require two or more words, a participle phrase will often include objects
and/or modifiers that complete the thought. The pattern looks like this:
PARTICIPLE+OBJECT(S)AND/OR MODIFIER(S)
Here are some examples:
Flexing his muscles in front of the bathroom mirror
Ripped from a spiral-ring notebook
Driven crazy by Grandma's endless questions
Participle phrases always function as adjectives, adding description to the sentence. Read these
examples:

The stock clerk lining up cartons of orange juice made sure the expiration date faced the
back of the cooler.
Lining up cartons of orange juice modifies the noun clerk.

Elijah likes his eggs smothered in cheese sauce.

Smothered in cheese sauce modifies the noun eggs.

Shrunk in the dryer, the jeans hung above John's ankles.

Shrunk in the dryer modifies the noun jeans.

Gerund Phrases
A gerund phrase will begin with a gerund, an ing word, and will often include other
modifiers and/or objects. The pattern looks like this:
GERUND+OBJECT(S)AND/OR MODIFIER(S)
Gerund phrases look exactly like present participle phrases. How do you tell the difference?
You must determine the function of the phrase.
Gerund phrases always function as nouns, so they will be subjects, subject complements,
or objects in the sentence. Read these examples:
Washing our dog Gizmo requires strong arms to keep the squirming, unhappy puppy in
the tub.
Washing our dog Gizmo = subject of the verb requires.

A good strategy for avoiding dirty dishes is eating every meal off of paper towels.
Eating every meal off of paper towels = subject complement of the verb is.

Susie tried holding the slippery trout , but the fish flipped out of her hands and splashed
back into the stream.
Holding the slippery trout = direct object of the verb tried.

Absolute Phrases
 An absolute phrase combines a noun and a participle with any accompanying modifiers
or objects. The pattern looks like this:

NOUN+PARTICIPLE+OPTIONALOBJECT(S)AND/OR MODIFIER(S
)

Here are some examples:

His brow knitted in frustration

Brow = noun; knitted = participle; his, in frustration = modifiers.

Her fingers flying over the piano keys

Fingers = noun; flying = participle; her, over the piano keys = modifiers.

Our eyes following the arc of the ball

Eyes = noun; following = participle; arc = direct object; our, the, of the ball = modifiers.

Rather than modifying a specific word, an absolute phrase will describe the whole clause:
His brow knitted in frustration, Thomas tried again to iron a perfect crease in his dress
pants.

Francine played the difficult concerto, her fingers flying over the piano keys.

We watched Leo launch a pass to his fullback, our eyes following the arc of the ball.

III. Conclusion

A phrase is a group of related words within a sentence that complements the entire
structure of sentence. A phrase has both the subject and the object. Thus, a phrase cannot stand
alone to give complete meaning. A phrase can act as a noun, and adjective, a preposition or an
adverb. The function of a phrase depends upon its construction and place in a sentence. It is
depending upon its function in a sentence, phrases are divided into various types: Noun Phrase,
Verb Phrase, Prepositional Phrase, Infinitive Phrase, Participle Phrase, Gerund Phrase, and
Absolute Phrase.

IV. Reflection

On doing the comprehensive analysis I learned that if you are trying to learn and speak a
new language whether it is English or different language, we should pay attention to the most
common phrases that is being used in that language. To become fluent, we have to speak English
without thinking about grammar rules. That is why it seems too difficult learning English. The key
thing that learners have to understand is to learn language like children. You must to learn some
of expressions what is called phrases. A common phrase which we actually use but the great way
to learn phrases which are actually bases on real life situation by listening to people's conversation,
listen to movie dialogues or radio talk shows. There are so many useful everyday phrases in English
that no single article will be able to help you with all of them so just listen and practice. We do not
need to know why this is. Just memorize them and use them into your speaking and writing in
order to become a fluent more quickly.

WORD ORDER

I. Introduction

Word order refers to the way words are arranged in a sentence. The order of words in
English is important if you want to communicate your thoughts and ideas. English has a strict
word order in basic sentences. English word order is strict and not very flexible. This means that
the order of words in an English sentence rarely changes: the subject almost always comes
before the predicate. There are however a few parts of speech that can move in sentences. We
will cover these later in this lesson.

Native English speakers are used to hearing some English parts of speech in a specific order. If
these parts of speech are in a different order, it can be confusing.

Even very small differences in English word order can sound strange to native English speakers.
For example, the sound of a clock in English is tick-tock. Tock-tick sounds strange to native
speakers. Tick-tock sounds correct.

II. Body

Basic Word Oder in English

The basic word order of an English sentence is Subject + Predicate. The predicate is the
part of the sentence that tells something about the subject. The predicate always includes the
verb.

1. Subject + predicate + direct object

In an ordinary affirmative sentence, the subject is placed directly before a word that defines its
action, so-called predicate or verb. Direct object, if in general an object is present in a sentence,
follows the verb directly, i.e. it is placed rights after it. For example: “They bought a car”; “We
can not do that”; “The girl in a blue dress was watching TV” and so on.

2. Predicate
Notice that a notion “subject” here implies not only the main noun or pronoun, but also
adjectives and entire descriptive phrases, which have relation to the subject. The rest unity of
sentence members is called “predicate”, since it does not have relation to the subject. For
example: “The girl in a blue dress was playing the piano” – the part “The girl in a blue dress” is
subject and “was playing the piano” is predicate. Visit our essay corrector service and contact
our team if you need more information or any other kind of help or assistance on this issue.

3. Indirect object
If there are any other elements in a sentence, such as indirect objects or adverbials, then they
usually take strictly defined position.

Indirect object position. Indirect object is placed after direct object if it contains preposition “to”.
Indirect object is placed before direct object if preposition “to” misses. For example: “The
teacher gave dictionaries to the pupils”, but “The teacher gave them dictionaries”.

4. Adverbial position
An adverbial may have three positions:

1) before subject (usually this is adverbial of time). For example: “In the morning he was reading
a book”;
2) after object (here almost any adverb can be placed or adverbial phrase). For example: “He was
reading a book at the library”;
3) between auxiliary and main verb. For example: “He has already read this book”.

5. Irregular word order in the English

Usually in regular English there are no other words between subject and its verb (predicate) or
verb and its object. Of course, some exceptions exist, and we will consider the most important of
them:

a) Use of objects (indirect) without “to” and use of adverbs (usually of frequency). For example:
“I sometimes drink coffee in the morning”, “She showed the policeman her driving license”. All
you need is to follow the simple rules presented above and you will manage to avoid word order
mistakes in an English sentence. The examples given here are purposely very simple. However,
the same rules can be applied to more complicated sentences with subordinate structures. For
example: “The woman, (who often felt lonely), never left her house before (she had locked all
the doors)”.
 b) Stylistic change of word order. Of course, each rule has its exception (and sometimes a lot of
them), and many people, especially writers and speakers, often use irregular word order to
achieve special effect. But if now we focus attention on the exceptions, we will be distracted
from the basic principles and consequently the order of words problem may seem to much
complicated.

That is why here are some other examples. You should know that suchlike sentences exist, but use
them only when you feel you can not avoid it, i.e. if it is inevitably and absolutely necessary, and
especially try not to use them before you learn the principles of ordinary word order. Remember
that it is necessary to learn to work first and only then to run. For example: “Never before had he
felt so miserable”. If a sentence begins with “never” or “never before” the subject and predicate
often undergo inversion, i.e. they have changed their positions. But do not use inversion in the
sentences, in which when the subject is followed by “never”.

Another example: “Hardly had I finished cleaning the house, my friend called”. Subject and
predicated must be always inverted if “hardly” is placed in a sentence beginning.

Inversion is also used in the structures of hypothetical condition when “if” is missed. For example:
“Had they know, they would never have done that”.

In a sentence “Whatever you can tell me, I know already” the complex object “Whatever you can
tell me” is placed in the beginning of the sentence for artistic reasons. Such a structure of a
sentence is not obligatory; we are just talking about a way of a thought expression or a stylistic
device.

Now having learnt the rules for simple sentences constructing you may proceed to more complex
sentences that contain subordinate structures. By the way, if there are some doubts or you are
not sure about your knowledge of grammar, you may use our online essay editor website; our
professional writers, editors and other experts are always there to help you.
Word order in English: tips for the grammar knowledge improvement
1. As we have already said word order in English has a great importance. There are no cases in
English (except the genitive or possessive case that defines belonging to a subject or a person) or
their forms are very similar. So due to this fact it is very important to keep the word order. It is not
difficult and even quite easy:
 subject is put first
 verb (predicate) follows the subject
 object (direct or indirect) is on the third place.
Sometimes if position of words is changed, then the whole meaning of a sentence may change.
For example: “Irene saw Jon” or “Jon saw Irene”.

2. Sometimes a verb is placed on the first place and a subject is on the second. For example: “Did
Irene see Jon?”. It means that this is an interrogative sentence. There are also other cases, in which
the change of subject and verb places may be possible. The most common among them are the
following:
a) “Let us go” – this is imperative mood.

b) “Had he used better means and tools, he would probably have been achieved much better
result” – this is a conjunctionless conditional mood.

3. It may seem that this rule is simple, but still usually it can be hard to recognize it. First of
all, subject is not always expressed with a noun. It may be expressed with a verb with “to”
(infinitive), as in the following sentence, for example: “To be a good person, is to have not only a
pure soul, but a clear mind as well”. Or it may be expressed with a whole sentence: “What mother
means to us is the essence and sense of our life”.
Second of all, subject can be expressed with not just one word, but it can have a lot of clarifying
words and even sentences, which create a subject group. For example: “The man I met yesterday
was a magician”. The subject “the man” is extended by a subordinate clause. Before subordinate
clause there should be conjunction “which / whom”, but in such short sentences conjunction is
usually missed.

4. Very often, despite the rule and breaking it, adverbs and adverbial phrases of place and time are
put in the sentence beginning. For example: “In spring nature begins to come back to life again”.
There is usually a comma that separates the adverbs from the other parts of a sentence: “As
always, she has to stay at home at night”. However, sometimes a comma is missed as a rule in
newspapers and blogs: “In the meantime he made four films”. Additionally, they often place
introductory words and phrases on the first place: “For the rest, he wanted them to know that if
they have any trouble they can always call him and ask for any kind of help”.
All these examples are simple and do not cause difficulties. However, it is too early to sigh with a
relief. The British, especially people with literary and scientific inclination, sometimes use their
own word order, so that it can be hard to find subject, predicative or other sentence parts: “In
spite of what they had told us, and they really believed their words to be an absolute truth, they
were not ready to discuss or accept any other mind or opinion, so we did not even try to persuade
them”. Such a breaking of regular word order usually happened due to emotional rise of an author.
III. Conclusion

Word order refers to the way words are arranged in a sentence. The standard word order
in English is: Subject + Verb + Object. To determine the proper sequence of words, you need to
understand what the subject, verb and objects are. The sequence of words is critical when
communicating in English because it can impact the meaning of what you’re trying to say. Word
order is a key component to teaching English language students to form and create a
grammatically correct sentence. Once a student developed a basic vocabulary, word order and
parts of the sentence should be taught it will be helpful to a student to understand the basic
building blocks of the English sentence.

IV. Reflection

While doing the comprehensive analysis I learned how much important is the order of
words in English. It is necessary to know the language order of words because it helps to build and
understand the simplest and the most complex sentence in English. The word order in English is
also important, because it can change the spirit, meaning or fluency of a sentence. By knowing the
proper arrangement of the words, we will be able to express our thoughts, message, ideas to the
other people clearly. This is also essential for me to become an effective English teacher in the
future.