THE GRAMMATICAL SYSTEM

TUTOR: MARISOL ACOSTA HAM

 ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE
FOLLOWING TOPICS?

• DEFINITION OF GRAMMAR
• PARTS OF SPEECH
• WORD GROUPS
• VERBS
• SENTENCES
• SYNTAX
• MORPHOLOGY
WHEN SOMEBODY SAYS
“GRAMMAR”…
DO YOU REACT LIKE THIS?
 WHAT IS GRAMMAR?

• WHAT IS YOUR DEFINITION OF THE

WORD?
SOME PEOPLE DEFINE IT AS…

• A SET OF RULES THAT DESCRIBES HOW

WORDS AND GROUPS OF WORDS CAN BE
ARRANGED TO FORM SENTENCES.

• THE RULES THAT SAY HOW WORDS ARE

COMBINED, ARRANGED AND CHANGED TO
SHOW DIFFERENT MEANINGS.
 WHAT ARE THE FUNDAMENTAL
CONCEPTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR?

• IN TEAMS, IDENTIFY THE ONES YOU

KNOW AND MAKE A LIST.
 PARTS OF SPEECH
• NOUN
• PRONOUN
• VERB
• ADJECTIVE
• ADVERB
• PREPOSITION
• CONJUCTION
• INTERJECTION
 SENTENCES:

A SENTENCE IS A GROUP OF WORDS THAT

EXPRESSES A STATEMENT, QUESTION, COMMAND
OR EXCLAMATION. A SENTENCE CONSISTS OF
ONE OR MORE CLAUSES, AND USUALLY HAS AT
LEAST ONE SUBJECT VERB.
ALL SENTENCES:
• HAVE A SUBJECT AND A PREDICATE.
• BEGIN WITH A CAPITAL LETTER.
• END IN A FULL STOP, A QUESTION MARK OR AN
EXCLAMATION MARK.
 THERE ARE VARIOUS TYPES…

• A SIMPLE SENTENCE:
THE MAN IS HERE.

• A COMPOUND SENTENCE:
THE MAN IS HERE, AND HE WANTS TO SEE YOU.

• A COMPLEX SENTENCE:
THE MAN THAT WANTS TO SEE YOU IS HERE. OR
WHEN HE SHOWED UP HERE, I CALLED YOU.
 WORD GROUPS
• PHRASES: A PHRASE IS DEFINED AS TWO OR MORE WORDS
THAT FUNCTION TOGETHER AS A GROUP.
THE OLD MAN WALKED DOWN THE STREET.
THERE ARE A NUMBER OF PHRASE TYPES IN ENGLISH
INCLUDING: NOUN PHRASES, VERB PHRASES, ADJECTIVE
PHRASES, ADVERBIAL PHRASES, AND PREPOSITIONAL
PHRASES.

• CLAUSES: A COMPLETE SENTENCE NEEDS AT LEAST ONE

INDEPENDENT CLAUSE. A SIMPLE SENTENCE IS COMPOSED
OF ONLY ONE CLAUSE.
HE IS MY BEST FRIEND.
I ALWAYS DO MY HOMEWORK.
 VERBS

• VERBS DESCRIBE ACTIONS, PROCESSES OR

STATES. THEY TAKE DIFFERENT FORMS WITH
REGARD TO TENSE (PRESENT, PAST), ASPECT
(PROGRESSIVE, PERFECT), PERSON (FIRST,
SECOND, THIRD), NUMBER (SINGULAR, PLURAL)
AND VOICE (ACTIVE, PASSIVE).

TYPES OF VERBS:
• MAIN VERB, AUXILIARY VERB, MODAL VERB,
ACTION VERB, STATE VERB, ETC.
AND THAT IS PRETTY MUCH
IT…
BUT WAIT…THERE ARE TWO MAJOR CONCEPTS YOU
OUGHT TO KNOW
 SYNTAX
• Syntax is a concept that governs the structure of
sentences. The order in which words are put together
has a bearing on the meaning of a sentence as a whole.
Syntax rules must be followed in order for a sentence to
be grammatically correct and to make sense to speakers
of a language. It is what dictates things such as the order
of the subject and verb, and how adjectives and adverbs
are used.
• Incorrect - Happy about her upcoming promotion, the trip
home was full of singing.
• Correct - Happy about her upcoming promotion, Sammie
sang all the way home.
 MORPHOLOGY

• Morphology is the study of morphemes, which are the

smallest unit of meaning in a language. A morpheme can
be one whole word or a prefix or suffix that is understood
to change the meaning of the word and therefore takes
on meaning itself.
• The study of morphology attempts to understand how
people use and understand the way that words work, in
an attempt to understand the difference that one
morpheme makes to many words and how words relate
to each other.
NOW LET’S TEST YOUR GRAMMAR…
AND THE ANSWERS ARE…
 GRAMMAR NAZI ALERT!
LET’S ANALYZE A FEW GRAMMARTICAL ERRORS
ARE YOU A GRAMMAR NAZI?
GRAMMAR RULES EVERYONE SHOULD
KEEP IN MIND

• VERBS HAS TO AGREE WITH THEIR SUBJECTS.

• REMEMBER TO NEVER SPLIT AN INFINITIVE.
• NEVER USE A BIG WORD WHEN A DIMINUTIVE ONE
WOULD SUFFICE.
• USE THE APOSTROPHE IN IT’S PROPER PLACE AND
OMIT IT WHEN ITS NOT NEEDED.
• WHO NEEDS RHETORICAL QUESTIONS?
• EXAGGERATION IS A BILLION TIMES WORSE THAN
UNDERSTATEMENT.
• LAST BUT NOT LEAST, AVOID CLICHÉS LIKE THE
PLAGUE.
 REFLECTION
• WHAT ARE YOUR VIEWS ON
GRAMMAR?

• IN YOUR OPINION, IS GRAMMAR

IMPORTANT?
 Acknowledgements (References):

• Cowan, R. (2008). The Teacher's Grammar of English. New York:

Cambridge University Press.
• Wines, C. T. (2008). My Grammar and I (or should that be 'ME'?).
London: Michael O'Mara Books.
• You Tube. (s.f.). Obtained from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDk3UTa5cQ4 Most fascinating
discussion of grammar in the history of the world.
• You Tube. (s.f.). Obtained from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4vf8N6GpdM Grammar Nazis
ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS?

NO, OK.

THANK YOU!

Contact information:
E-mail: Marysol_38@hotmail.com