Basic English Grammar Rules
Some of the most basic and important English grammar rules relate directly to sentence structure. Some of these rules specify that:
- A singular subject needs a singular predicate.
- A sentence needs to express a complete thought.
Another term for a sentence is an independent clause.
- Clauses, like any sentence, have a subject and predicate too. If a group of words does not have a subject and predicate, it is a phrase.
- If they can stand alone and make a complete thought, then they are independent and called sentences.
- If they do not express a complete thought, they are called "dependent clauses." An example of a dependent clause, which is not a sentence, is “when i finish my work”.
So, what are the other basic rules for sentence structure?
Subjects and Predicates
Basic to any language is the sentence, which expresses a complete thought and consists of a subject and a predicate.
- The subject is the star of the sentence; the person, animal, or thing that is the focus of it.
- The predicate will tell the action that the subject is taking or tell something about the subject.
BUILDING A SENTENCE
A sentence is a group of words which starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop (.), question mark (?) or exclamation mark (!). A sentence contains or implies a predicate and a subject.
Sentences contain clauses.
Simple sentences have one clause.
Compound sentences and complex sentences have two or more clauses.
Sentences can contain subjects and objects.
The subject in a sentence is generally the person or thing carrying out an action. The object in a sentence is involved in an action but does not carry it out, the object comes after the verb.
For example:
The boy climbed a tree.
If you want to say more about the subject (the boy) or the object (the tree), you can add an adjective.
For example:
The young boy climbed a tall tree.
If you want to say more about how he climbed the tree you can use an adverb.
For example:
The young boy quickly climbed a tall tree.
The sentence becomes more interesting as it gives the reader or listener more information.
