Basic rules of grammar

1. Writing Skills
Grammar Basics

2. Sentence Parts and Patterns
• Parts of speech
• Nouns: name a person, a thing, a quality, a place or an idea
• Common nouns name a general class of things and do not
befin in a capital letter
• Proper nouns name a specific person, place or thing and
are capitalized
• Collective nouns are singular in form but name a group
• Possessive nouns show ownership or source by adding ‘s

3. Sentence Parts and Patterns
• Parts of speech
• Pronouns: substitute for nouns and function in sentences as
nouns
• Personal pronouns refer to a specific individual or
individual (I, you, he, she, it, we, they)
• Indefinite pronouns do not substitute for any specific noun
(everybody, some)
• Relative pronouns relates a group of words to a noun or
another pronoun (who, whoever, which, that)
• Demonstrative pronouns point to a noun (this, that, such)

4. Sentence Parts and Patterns
• Parts of speech
• Verbs: express an action, an occurrence, or a state of
being
• Plain form: indicates action that occurs in the present,
habitually or is generally true
• Past-tense form: indicates action that occurred in the
past
• Past participle form: uses forms of have or be to
express action that occurred in the past, or modifies
nouns and pronouns
• Present participle form: adds –ing to plain form and
modifies nouns and pronouns, or functions as a noun

5. Sentence Parts and Patterns
• Parts of speech
• Adjectives: describe or modify nouns and pronouns, specifying
which one, what quality or how many
• Adverbs: describe or modify verbs, adjectives other adverbs
and groups of words, specifying when, where, how and to what
extent
• Adjectives and Adverbs appear in three forms:
• Positive (i.e., a pretty girl, shout angrily)
• Comparative (i.e., a prettier girl’ shouted more angrily)
• Superlative (i.e., the prettiest girl, shouted the most angrily)

6. Sentence Parts and Patterns
• Parts of speech
• Prepositions: form nouns or pronouns into phrases which serve
as modifiers in sentences (about, as, at, by, for, in, from, into,
like…)
• Subordinating conjunctions: form sentence into phrases that
serve as parts of compound sentences (as, if, once, that, while,
when…)
• Coordinating conjunctions: connect words or word groups of
the same kind (and, nor, or, but, for so, yet)
• Interjections: express feeling or command attention

7. Sentence Parts and Patterns
• Subjects and predicates
• Subject: names something.
• Simple subject: one or more nouns or pronouns
• Complete subject: includes modifiers
• Compound subject: subject is made up of two or more nouns or
pronouns joined by a coordinating conjunction
• Predicate: makes an assertion about the subject or describes
the action by the subject
• Simple predicate: one or more verbs
• Complete predicate: includes modifiers
• Compound predicate: predicate is made up of two or more actions
joined by a coordinating conjunction

8. Sentence Parts and Patterns
• All English sentences are based on five patterns
• Intransitive verb: the simplest pattern, consisting of a verb that does not require
a following word to complete its meaning.
• The dog barked.
• Transitive verb: the verb is followed by a direct object (a noun or pronoun that
identifies who or what receives the action of the verb).
• The earthquake destroyed the city.
• Linking verb: the verb is followed by a subject complement (a word that renames
or describes the subject).
• The woman appeared calm.
• Indirect object: the verb is followed by a direct object and an indirect object (a
word identifying to or for whom action is performed).
• The company paid employees bonuses.
• Object complement: the verb is followed by a direct object and an object
complement (a word that describes the direct object).
• Success makes some people nervous.

9. Sentence Parts and Patterns
• Phrases and clauses
• Phrases are word groups that serve as adjectives, adverbs, or
nouns and can not stand alone as a sentence
• A phrase lacks either a subject or a predicate or both
• A clause is any group of words that contains both a subject and a
predicate
• A main clause makes a complete statement and can stand alone as
a sentence
• A subordinate clause contains a subject and a predicate but begins
with a subordinating word

10. Sentence Parts and Patterns
• Subject and verb agreement
• A subject and its verb should agree in number and person
• Most problems arise when singular and plural endings are used
within the same sentence
The boy plays. vs. The boys play.
• Subject and verb should agree even when other words come
between them
• Subjects joined by and usually take plural verbs
• When parts of a subject are joined by or or nor, the verb agrees
with the nearer part
• The verb and subject agree even in inverted order, such as in
questions
• Use singular verbs with titles and with words being defined

11. Punctuation
• End punctuation
• A sentence ends with a period (.), a question mark (?) or an exclamation point (!)
• Use periods with abbreviations that consist of or end in small letters
• Use a question mark after a direct question and sometimes to indicate doubt
• Use an exclamation point after an emphatic statement, interjection, or command
• Comma
• Use a comma before and, but or another coordinating conjunction linking main
clauses
• Use a comma to set off introductory elements
• Use a comma or commas to set off nonessential elements
• Use commas between items in a series
• Use commas between two or more adjectives that equally modify the same word
• Use commas in dates, addresses, place names and long numbers
• Use commas with quotations according to standard practice

12. Punctuation
• Colon
• Use a colon to introduce a concluding explanation, series, or long or formal
quotation
• Use a colon between a title and subtitle, and between divisions of time
• Semicolon
• Use a semicolon between main clauses not joined by and, but or another
coordinating conjunction
• Use a semicolon between main clauses related by however, for example, and so on.
• Use semicolons between main clauses or series items containing commas
• Apostrophe
• Use the apostrophe and sometimes –s to form possessive nouns and indefinite
pronouns
• Use an apostrophe to form contractions

13. Punctuation
• Quotations
• Use double quotation marks to enclose direct quotations
• Use single quotation marks to enclose a quotation within a
quotation
• Quotation marks may enclose words being used in a special sense
• Place commas and periods within quotation marks
• Place colons and semicolons outside quotation marks
• Place dashes, question marks and exclamation points inside
quotation marks only if part of the quotation