Rules of English Grammar

What is a word?A word can be divided into its root (the basic part of the word containing its meaning) and its Prefixes/ Suffixes (the things added at the start or end of the root to indicate things like a noun or a plural or a verb is in the past tense).

Example:1. Root: dogSuffix: s in dogs2. Root: runSuffix: s in runs

What is a sentence?A sentence comprises of the following:

1. Subject: It is the doer/ performer of the action which is taking place in the sentence. It may be a person, thing or topic which the sentence deals with. To discover the subject, ask who or what before the verb.

For example:The sky is blue. What is the subject in this sentence? Ask the question: What is Blue? Answer: The sky is blue.

2. Predicate: The predicate is the entire part of the sentence without the subject.

For example:The sky is blue. The predicate here is is blue.

3. Object: The object is the part of the sentence on which the action is being done. It is the person or thing on which the action or the verb is carried out by the subject. To discover the object, ask who or what after the verb.

For example:Rohit cheated me. Rohit cheated who?Answer: me

4. Complement: Whatever comes after the verb to be is the complement. After the verb to be ( is/ am/ are in Present tense and was/ were in Past tense) there is no object since the noun which follows refers to the same thing as that which precedes the verb (the subject). The noun following the verb to be is called the complement.

For example:She is a girl.This is the Sudoku Puzzle.

Parts of SpeechThese are the basic formative parts of English language without which the understanding of the nuances of any language cannot be developed. They are the building blocks of the English language. In English we can categorize the parts of speech into 8 basic types or classes. These classes are called parts of speech.

Part of SpeechPurposeExamplesSentences using the Part of Speech

VerbAction or state(to) be, have, do, like, work, sing, can, mustI go to my school daily.

NounThing or personPen, dog, work, music, city, Delhi, teacher, RamThis is my dog. He lives in my house. We live in Delhi.

AdjectiveDescribes a nouna/an, the, some, good, big, red, well, interestingMy car is fast. I like fast cars.

AdverbDescribes a verbQuickly, silentlyMy dog eats quickly.

PronounReplaces a nounI, you, he, she, someMy friend is African. He lives in India.

PrepositionLinks a noun to another wordTo, at, after, on, butWe went to school on Saturday.

ConjunctionJoins clauses or sentences or wordsAnd, but, whenI like dogs and I like cats.

InterjectionShort exclamation, sometimes inserted into a sentenceOh!, ouch!, hi!, wellOuch! That hurts.