GRAMMAR

Grammar is the field of linguistics that covers the rules governing the use of any given
natural language. It includes morphology and syntax, often complemented by phonetics,
phonology, semantics, and pragmatics.
Each language has its own distinct grammar. "English grammar" is the rules of the
English language itself. "An English grammar" is a specific study or analysis of these
rules. A reference book describing the grammar of a language is called a "reference
grammar" or simply "a grammar". A fully explicit grammar exhaustively describing the
grammatical constructions of a language is called a descriptive grammar, as opposed to
linguistic prescription which tries to enforce the governing rules how a language is to be
used.

English grammar has minimal inflection compared with most other Indo-European
languages. For example, Modern English, unlike Modern German or Dutch and the
Romance languages, lacks grammatical gender and adjectival agreement. Case marking
has almost disappeared from the language and mainly survives in pronouns. The
patterning of strong (e.g. speak/spoke/spoken) versus weak verbs inherited from its
Germanic origins has declined in importance in modern English, and the remnants of
inflection (such as plural marking) have become more regular.
At the same time, the language has become more analytic, and has developed features
such as modal verbs and word order as resources for conveying meaning. Auxiliary verbs
mark constructions such as questions, negative polarity, the passive voice and progressive
aspect.

Significance
Modern English, sometimes described as the first global lingua franca,[7][8] is the
dominant international language in communications, science, business, aviation,
entertainment, radio and diplomacy.[9] The initial reason for its enormous spread beyond
the bounds of the British Isles where it was originally a native tongue was the British
Empire, and by the late nineteenth century its influence had won a truly global reach.[10] It
is the dominant language in the United States and the growing economic and cultural
influence and status as a global superpower since World War II has significantly
accelerated adoption of English as a language across the planet.[8]
A working knowledge of English has become a requirement in a number of fields,
occupations and professions such as medicine and as a consequence over a billion people
speak English to at least a basic level (see English language learning and teaching).
Linguists such as David Crystal recognize that one impact of this massive growth of
English, in common with other global languages, has been to reduce native linguistic
diversity in many parts of the world historically, most particularly in Australasia and
North America, and its huge influence continues to play an important role in language
attrition. By a similar token, historical linguists, aware of the complex and fluid dynamics
of language change, are always alive to the potential English contains through the vast
size and spread of the communities that use it and its natural internal variety, such as in
its creoles and pidgins, to produce a new family of distinct languages over time.[citation needed]
English is one of six official languages of the United Nations.

History
Main article: History of the English language
English is a West Germanic language that originated from the Anglo-Frisian dialects
brought to Britain by Germanic settlers and Roman auxiliary troops from various parts of
what is now northwest Germany and the Northern Netherlands[citation needed]. Initially, Old
English was a diverse group of dialects, reflecting the varied origins of the Anglo-Saxon
Kingdoms of England[citation needed]. One of these dialects, Late West Saxon, eventually came
to dominate. The original Old English language was then influenced by two waves of
invasion. The first was by language speakers of the Scandinavian branch of the Germanic
family; they conquered and colonized parts of Britain in the 8th and 9th centuries. The
second was the Normans in the 11th century, who spoke Old Norman and ultimately
developed an English variety of this called Anglo-Norman. These two invasions caused
English to become "mixed" to some degree (though it was never a truly mixed language
in the strict linguistic sense of the word; mixed languages arise from the cohabitation of
speakers of different languages, who develop a hybrid tongue for basic communication).
Cohabitation with the Scandinavians resulted in a significant grammatical simplification
and lexical supplementation of the Anglo-Frisian core of English; the later Norman
occupation led to the grafting onto that Germanic core of a more elaborate layer of words
from the Italic branch of the European languages. This Norman influence entered English
largely through the courts and government. Thus, English developed into a "borrowing"
language of great flexibility and with a huge vocabulary.
The emergence and spread of the British Empire and the emergence of the United States
as a superpower helped to spread the English language around the worl