Grammar

What is grammar?

Grammar is the set of rules for how words fit together to make meaning. Grammar is why The dog chased the cat and The cat chased the dog mean different things, even though they use exactly the same words.

You already know a lot of grammar without realizing it. You would never say Cat the chased dog the. Studying grammar gives names to the patterns you already use, so you can talk about them, fix mistakes and write with more control.

The building blocks

Grammar works on several levels, each built on the one before:

1. Words – each word has a part of speech (noun, verb, adjective and so on).
2. Phrases – groups of words that work together, like the old red barn.
3. Clauses – groups of words with their own subject and verb.
4. Sentences – one or more clauses that express a complete thought.
5. Paragraphs – groups of sentences about one main idea.

The parts of speech

What makes a sentence?

A complete sentence has two parts:

• The subject: who or what the sentence is about.
• The predicate: what the subject does or is. It always includes the verb.

A sentence also starts with a capital letter and ends with a period, question mark or exclamation mark.

Four kinds of sentences

• Statement: The library opens at nine.
• Question: When does the library open?
• Command: Return your books on time.
• Exclamation: What a huge library!

Clauses

A clause has its own subject and verb.

• An independent clause can stand alone: I read a book.
• A dependent clause cannot stand alone: because I was bored.

Put them together: I read a book because I was bored.

Agreement

Grammar asks words to match:

• Subject and verb: She walks. They walk.
• Pronoun and noun: The girls brought their bikes.
• Tense: keep the same time unless the time really changes.

Punctuation

Punctuation is part of grammar too. It shows readers where to pause and how to read.

• Period (.) ends a statement.
• Question mark (?) ends a question.
• Exclamation mark (!) shows strong feeling.
• Comma (,) separates items in a list and parts of a sentence.
• Apostrophe (‘) shows ownership or a contraction.

Compare: Let’s eat, Grandma! and Let’s eat Grandma! One comma saves Grandma.

Standard English and everyday speech

People speak differently with friends, family and in different communities, and that is normal. Standard English is the shared form used in school, books, news and job applications. Knowing its grammar lets you switch smoothly between casual and formal language.

Worked examples

Example 1: Find the subject and predicate. The noisy geese flew south.
Subject: The noisy geese. Predicate: flew south.

Example 2: Statement, question, command or exclamation? Please sit down.
→ Command.

Example 3: Fix the agreement. The boys was late.
→ The boys were late.

Common mistakes

• Fragments: Running down the hall. (no subject) → Jo was running down the hall.
• Run-ons: I like apples I eat one every day. → I like apples. I eat one every day.
• Mixed tenses: Yesterday I go to the park. → Yesterday I went to the park.

Try it yourself

1. Label the parts of speech: The happy kids ran quickly.
2. Split into subject and predicate: My grandmother bakes bread on Sundays.
3. Is this a sentence or a fragment? After the game ended.
4. Fix it: me and him is going to the store

Answers: 1. The (article), happy (adjective), kids (noun), ran (verb), quickly (adverb). 2. My grandmother / bakes bread on Sundays. 3. Fragment. 4. He and I are going to the store.

Tip for families

Read a favourite picture book and pick one sentence. Try rearranging the words in different orders and decide together which versions still make sense and which do not. It shows that grammar is really about meaning.

Quick recap

• Grammar is the set of rules for building meaning with words.
• Sentences need a subject and a predicate.
• Clauses can be independent or dependent.
• Words must agree in number and tense.
• Punctuation is part of grammar and changes meaning.