Sometimes a problem in expression can only be solved by going back to the book. So here, for review and reference, is a brief distillation of the basic rules of grammar; covering parts of speech; simple, compound, and complex sentences; and other aspects of sentence structure.

Grammar, wrote Samuel Johnson, maker of the first great dictionary of our language, "is the science of speaking correctly; the art which teaches the relations of words to each other."

Many modern grammarians base their studies primarily on the spoken language in preference to the written. Intonation and context are as important as formal rules of structure. Then too, in recent times, knowledge of the formation and change of all modern languages has advanced greatly. What appear to us today as "rules" are understood by grammarians as the state of current usage. And while rules are characteristically inflexible, usage bends and changes with time and the needs of the users. Only a few decades ago the subjunctive mood was far more familiar than it is today. Now one never says "If I be here tomorrow," but uses the present indicative "If I am here tomorrow," which was once considered not proper formal English writing style, and hence not acceptable in educated speech.

For practical everyday purposes, Samuel Johnson's definition still expresses the need for a current grammar to guide the speaker and writer. At the same time, it is well to keep in mind that language is living, that expression has not remained the same over the generations.Its all about relation with words. An understanding of them provides a better ‘’feel’’ for the structure of the language. And once this understanding is achieved, words can be used with greater ease and confidence. Your communication, both written and spoken, will be clearer and more effective.

Source: ''Reader's Digest''

Replying to [adseaco]:

The Sentence

Words are, of course, most meaningful in relation to each other. Place a word in a sentence and a sentence in a paragraph and they will always mean much more than when standing alone.

A word by itself-with no relation to any others-means little.

Apples. Sky. Logic, Uranium.

The first two words make clear images. The third brings to our mind a thought process. And, unless we have scientific knowledge. "Uranium" perhaps evokes the hazy vision of a bomb blast shaped like a mushroom.

Phrases say more, of course. Bushel of apples. Dark sky streaked by lightning. Logic of events, Uranium, a metallic chemical element. Such phrases, in varying degrees, add to these subjects. But if verbs and complements are added to them their meanings become comprehensive, complete; they become sentences.

**A bushel of apples costs $1.25,

**A dark sky streaked by lightning greeted us on our arrival in Boston.

**The outcome was dictated by the logic of events.

**Uranium, a metallic chemical element, is important in the field of atomic energy.

A sentence is complete; it has a subject and it tells something about that subject. It is meaningful by itself. Making a full sentence is no more than putting the subject, verb, and complement together-grouping words to express a complete statement. In conversation, a single word or phrase may replace a full sentence, because the complete sentence is understood. If someone asks, "When will you arrive?" the reply may be, "Early tomorrow,’’ It means, ''I'll arrive early tomorrow." Part of the sentence is understood.

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Replying to [adseaco]:Grammar is also used to separate white and blue level workers. Today we have a strange phenomena occurring. We have many very rich song writers influencing public grammar. This is the first time education is going in reverse. Music videos are influencing the use or lack of it in their speaking habits. I do not know if this process can be reversed once again. The music videos have proven to the children they can speak poorly have little intelligence (Business Social Standard) and still become very wealthy. I wonder what our English language will evolve into?
Span-glih, Ghetto-glish? Perhaps only the elite will still communicate with True English, and all of us worker types will continue to butcher the Queens Language.

Replying to [adseaco]:I read it

The parts of speech

The different kinds of words that make up full sentences are known as parts of speech. These terms come up frequently in the study of the sentence; they fall traditionally into eight categories-conventional "filing drawers"-into which the words of our language have been gathered for more than four hindered years. You studied probably memorized, these parts of speech in school but here is a list of them and their usual definitions to jog your memory.

1. A noun names something. cloud, Shakespeare, biology

2. A pronoun takes the place of a noun. you, her, I

3. A verb expresses action or refers to an event or a state of being. is, fight, amaze, show, seem

4. An adjective qualifies-tells us something about-a noun or a pronoun. beautiful, angry, strange, green, small

("The," "a," and "an" are special adjectival forms called articles.)

5. An adverb qualifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. cleverly, ago, very, usually, angrily

6. A preposition shows a relation between a word and a noun (or a pronoun) that follows it. from, in, at, with, of, among, behind

7. A conjunction connects words or groups of words. and, but, although, or, yet

8. An interjection expresses emotion, acts as a signal, or adds a conversational

touch. Hey! Wow! Hello. Well! Oh! Say!

A word can act as several parts of speech, depending on its purpose in a particular sentence; Some words may be nouns as well as verbs, such as "escape," "telephone," and "fight." Some may be adjectives and nouns, such as "blue," or even an adjective, a verb, an adverb, and a noun, such as "last."

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Kinds of sentences

The parts of speech are the building blocks of language and are combined in different ways to make sentences. However, there are only four kinds of sentences that result from these combinations: simple, compound, complex, and compound -complex.

SIMPLE SENTENCES

The most rudimentary sentence consists of a subject and a verb or predicate.
Smoke rises.
The noun "smoke" is the subject; the verb "rises" is the predicate.

The classification of a sentence as simple, however, has nothing to do with brevity. This, also, is a simple sentence:

A good newspaper editor has a talent for stripping long. Verbose paragraphs of unnecessary detail, a knack of writing arresting headlines, an ability to select the most graphic pictures for his front page, and a fantastic memory of the middle initials in the names of the towns leading citizens.

Among all the nouns in this sentence, only "editor" is the subject, about which something is being said, and only the verb "has" is the predicate, which says something about the subject. All of the other elements of the sentence are complements. Whatever the intricacies of a sentence, its structure can easily be mastered once the subject and the predicate have been determined.

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These sentences are also simple, though each of them has compound elements.

1. Smith and Jones play tackle on our first-string football team.


2. Franklin is offensive guard but also plays linebacker.


3. Walters, the quarterback, mixes up the plays boldly and excitingly.

Example 1 has two nouns (a compound subject): "Smith" and "Jones."

Example 2 has two verbs (a compound predicate) telling us something about Franklin's place on the team: "is" and "plays."

 Example 3 has two adverbs modifying the predicate "mixes up": "boldly" and "excitingly."

Although the elements of these sentences are compound, the sentences are simple; each one is a simple, independent whole.

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COMPOUND SENTENCES

Two sentences put together by a coordinating conjunction make a compound sentence. That is to say, a compound sentence consists of two or more independent clauses, each of which could, by definition, stand alone as a sentence. (A clause is a group of words containing a subject and a predicate whether or not it stands alone.)

Everyone knows that Joe DiMaggio was one of the best hitters of his day, but some experts say he was the most graceful center fielder in the history of baseball.

Put a period in the place of the comma, take out "but," and capitalize "some," and these two independent clauses could stand alone. They would not, however, provide the dramatic contrast that they do when combined into a compound sentence, as above.

A compound sentence may also be formed with punctuation.

The stock market turned upward today; it was the first rally after a week of declines.

The semicolon takes the place of the coordinating conjuction, but there should also be a connection in sense; the ideas of the sentences should be related.

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COMPLEX SENTENCES

Who, what, when, where, how, and why? The answers to these are a fair description of what goes into the dependent clauses which combine with an independent clause to form a complex sentence, contributing information that makes the independent clause more precise, more meaningful.

Seniors who wanted to study astronomy had to walk a mile to the observatory.

* We often held our meetings at Fitzgerald's restaurant, where we could be sure we would get good service.

* When the English explorers came to , they discovered and took back to the tobacco plant.

* The team which finished last in 1963 won the championship two seasons later.

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COMPOUND-COMPLEX SENTENCES

The fourth kind of sentence consists of a compound sentence (two or more independent clauses) and one or more dependent clauses. The compound-complex sentence has all the ingredients of the other three kinds of sentences, as well as some new elements.

Most novels which win the critics' praises are ignored by the public; although the sale of film rights to Hollywood redeems some, most of these books are commercial failures.

The sentence above contains two independent clauses and two dependent clauses.

INDEPENDENT:

1. Most novels ... are ignored by the public...

2.... most of these books are commercial failures.

Example 1 is put together with the following parts of speech:

Most (adjective) novels (noun) are ignored (verb) by (preposition) the (adjective) public (noun).

Although "most novels are ignored" would stand by itself as a complete sentence, the pertinent meaning of the clause comes with the addition of "by the public."

"By the public" is a prepositional phrase that is, a group of words beginning with a preposition and ending usually, as in this case, with a noun or pronoun.

"Public" is here the object of the preposition "by."

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