GRAMMAR: IS THE SYSTEMATIC STUDY AND

DESCRIPTION OF A LANGUAGE. A SET OF RULES

AND EXAMPLES DEALING WITH THE SYNTAX AND
MORPHOLOGY OF A LANGUAGE

MORPHOLOGY: THE STUDY OF WORD FORMS.

SYNTAX: THE STUDY OF SENTENCE STRUCTURE.

WHY DO WE LEARN IT?

GRAMMAR IS THE SUPPORT SYSTEM OF
COMMUNICATION AND WE LEARN IT TO
COMMUNICATE BETTER (ALEXANDER L. G. 1991).
UNDERSTANDING THE BASICS OF GRAMMAR IS
NEEDED TO MAKE US PROFETION SPEAKERS
AND WRITTERS.

GRAMMAR IS THE STRUCTURAL FOUNDATION OF

OUR ABILITY TO EXPRESS OURSELVES. THE
MORE WE ARE AWARE OF HOW IT WORKS, THE
MORE WE CAN MONITORE THE MEANING AND
EFFECTIVENESS OF THE WAY WE AND OTHERS
USE LANGUAGE.
PRESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR: DESCRIBES HOW A
LANGUAGE SHOULD BE USED, HOW YOU
SHOULD SPEAK AND WHAT TYPE OF LANGUAGE
AVOID.

DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR: DESCRIBES THE

LANGUAGE AS IT IS USED, NOT SAYING HOW IT
SHOULD BE USED.

ENGLISH AS:
 PRIMARY LANGUAGE: IS THE LANGUAGE
THAT YOU FIRST LEARN AS A CHILD AND IT IS
YOUR PRIMARY LANGUAGE
 A SECOND LANGUAGE: IS THE LANGUAGE
YOU ARE LEARNING PRIMARILY IN A
COUNTRY WHERE IT IS THE DOMINANT
LANGUAGE (USA, BRITAIN, ETC.)
 A FOREIGN LANGUAGE: ENGLISH THAT YOU
LEARN IN A COUNTRY WHERE ENGLISH IS
NOT THE DOMINANT LANGUAGE.

VARIETIES OF ENGLISH
1. REGION: INVOLVE THE USE OF DIALECTS.
THEY ARE MORE COMMON IN BRITAIN THAN
 IN NORTH AMERICA, AUSTRALIA OR NEW
ZEALAND.
2. SOCIAL: IT DEPENDS OF THE EDUCATION,
SOCIOECONOMIC GROUP, AND ETHNIC
GROUP. SOME DIFFERENCES RELATE TO
THE AGE AND SEX.

3. FIELD OF DISCOURSE: RELATES TO THE

ACTIVITY IN WHICH THEY ARE ENGAGED.
INVOLVES NOTHING MORE THAN TURNING
TO THE PARTICULAR SET OF LEXICAL ITEMS
USED FOR HANDLING THE FIELD IN
QUESTION: LAW, COOKERY, FOOTBALL, ETC.

4. MEDIUM: SPOKEN AND WRITTEN ENGLISH

DERIVE FROM TWO SOURCES:
 SITUATIONAL: WRITERS MUST BE
MORE EXPLICIT THAN UNDERSTOOD
 DEVICES: MANY OF THE DEVICES
WE USE TO SPEAK (STRESS,
RHYTHM, INTONATION, ETC.) ARE
IMPOSSIBLE TO REPRESENT IN
CONVENTIONAL ORTHOGRAPHY.
 5. ATTITUDE: IT DEPENDS ON OUR ATTITUDE
TO THE HEARER (OR READER), TO THE
TOPIC, AND THE PURPOSE. IT CAN BE
FORMAL OR INFORMAL.

SENTENCE: A SET OF WORDS THAT IS

COMPLETE IN ITSELF, TIPICALLY CONSISTS IN A
SUBJECT AND PREDICATE; CONVEYING A
STATEMENT, QUESTION, EXCLAMATION, OR
COMMAND. ALSO CONSISTS OF A MAIN CLAUSE
AND SOMETIMES ONE OR MORE SUBODINATE
CLAUSES.
CLAUSES: GROUP OF RELATED WORDS THAT
CONTAINS A SUBJECT AND A PREDICATE. THERE
ARE TWO TYPES:
 INDEPENDENT CLAUSES: EXPRESS A
THOUGHT OR IDEA THAT IS COMPLETE. IT
CAN STAND BY ITSELF.
 DEPENDENT CLAUSES: THE CONTRARY.

SIMPLE SENTENCES: a sentence consisting of only

one clause, with a single subject and predicate.
COMPOUND SENTENCES: THEY ARE FORMED BY
COMBINING TWO INDEPENDENT CLAUSES.

COMPLEX SENTENCES: WHEN A DEPENDENT

CLAUSE IS JOINED AN INDEPENDENT CLAUSE.

PHRASE: IS A GROUP OF RELATED WORDS THAT

DOESN’T EXPRESS A COMPLETE THOUGHT OR
IDEA AND DOESN’T HAVE A SUBJECT AND A
PREDICATE.

NOUN PHRASES: A PHRASE THAT ACT LIKE A

NOUN IN A SENTENCE. IT HAS A NOUN AS A
HEAD-WORD AND OTHER RELATED WORDS,
WHICH MAY COME BEFORE OR AFTER THE
NOUN.

PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE: A PHRASE

COMPRISING A PREPOSITION AND OBJECT.
ADJECTIVE PHRASE: A PHRASE THAT ACT LIKE
AN ADJECTIVE. IT MODIFIES A NOUN OR
PRONOUN.

ADVERB PHRASE: A PHRASE THAT ACT LIKE AN

ADVERB. IT MODIFIES A VERB OR OTHER
ADVERBS.

VERB PHRASE: CONSISTS OF ONE OR MORE

VERBS.

WORD: A SINGLE MEANINGFUL ELEMENT OF

SPEECH OR WRITING USED WITH OTHERS (OR
SOMETIMES ALONE) TO FORM A SENTENCE

OPEN CLASS: THEY ARE IN CONSTANT CHANGE.

THEY ARE OFTEN CALLED LEXICAL WORDS.
 NOUN
 ADJECTIVE
 FULL VERBS
 ADVERBS
CLOSED CLASS: THEY CORRESPOND TO
INFLECTIONS IN SOME OTHER LANGUAGES.
THEY ARE OFTEN CALLED “GRAMMATICAL
WORDS”
 PRONOUN
 DETERMINER
 PRIMARY VERB
 MODAL VERB
 PREPOSITION
 CONJUNCTION

STATIVE AND DYNAMIC VERBS:

STATIVE: REFERS TO A STATE OR CONDITION
WHICH CAN NOT CHANGE. EX: HATE, BELIEVE,
CONTAIN, OWN. THEY CAN’T BE USED IN
CONTINUOUS FORM.
DYNAMIC: DESCRIBE ACTIVITIES OR EVENTS
THAT CAN BEGIN AND FINISH. EX: PLAY, HIT,
TAKE. THEY CAN BE USED IN CONTINUOUS
FORM.

TRANSITIVE VERBS: CAN BE TURNED INTO

PASSIVE VOICE.
INTRANSITIVE VERBS: THERE NO NEED TO BE
OTHER ELEMENTS BESIDES SUBJECT AND VERB.
COPULAR VERBS: REQUIRES A COMPLEMENT.
EX: “TO BE”.

PRO-FORM: REFERS BACK TO AN EXPRESSION

WITHOUT REPEATING IT.
ELLIPSIS: IS A GRAMMATICAL OMISSION.

OPERATOR: THE FIRST OR ONLY AUXILIARY IN A

VERB PHRASE.

PREDICATION: WHAT FOLLOWS THE OPERATOR

IN A SENTENCE.
VERB: THE TERM VERB IS USED IN TWO SENSES:
 THE VERB IS ONE OF THE ELEMENTS IN
CLAUSE STRUCTURE, LIKE THE SUBJECT
AND THE OBJECT.
 THE VERB IS A MEMBER OF A WORD CLASS,
LIKE A NOUN OR AN ADJECTIVE.

VERB PHRASE: CONSISTS OF ONE OR MORE

VERBS. EG: IS MAKING, CAN BELIEVE, MIGHT BE
LEAVING.

AS A WORD CLASS, CAN BE DIVIDED IN THREE

MAJOR CATEGORIES:
OPEN CLASS: FULL VERBS (believe, follow, like,
see).
CLOSED CLASS: PRIMARY VERBS: (be, have, do).
MODAL AUXILIARY: (might, could, would, must, will).