The Best Way to Master The Basics: The Building Blocks of English Grammar

(2023 Edition)

The is only one rule in English that is always a rule, that there are always exceptions to the grammatical rules!

Well, it is true that it can certainly feel like that when you are trying to master the English language and it can become really frustrating at times, that is why I have tried to break down the essentials to help you identify where you might be going wrong. Often, the issue with my clients is a lack of knowledge of the basic building blocks of the language and how they ought to fit together. Here is a basic overview of the words you will have to learn how to use if you want to speak fluently in English. Don’t worry you don’t have to become a grammar geek, I promise!

1. Nouns

Nouns are words that refer to people, places, things, or ideas. They can be countable or uncountable, and they can be singular or plural. For example, “dog” is a countable noun and can be either singular (“dog”) or plural (“dogs”). “Happiness” is an uncountable noun and does not have a plural form.

2. Verbs

Verbs express actions, events, or states of being. They can be in different forms, such as the present tense (e.g., “run”), past tense (e.g., “ran”), or future tense (e.g., “will run”). Verbs can also be transitive (e.g., “eat”) or intransitive (e.g., “sleep”).

3. Adjectives

Adjectives describe nouns or pronouns. They can come before the noun (e.g., “happy dog”) or after a linking verb (e.g., “the dog is happy”). Adjectives can also have comparative forms (e.g., “happier”) and superlative forms (e.g., “happiest”).

4. Adverbs

sAdverbs describe verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. They can indicate the manner in which an action is performed (e.g., “quickly”), the degree to which an adjective or adverb applies (e.g., “very”), or the time when an action occurs (e.g., “yesterday”).

5. Pronouns

Pronouns are words that stand in for nouns. They can be used to refer to specific people or things (e.g., “he,” “she,” “it”) or to groups of people or things (e.g., “they”). Pronouns can also be reflexive (e.g., “himself”), possessive (e.g., “his”), or indefinite (e.g., “someone”).

6. Prepositions

Prepositions show relationships between nouns and other words in a sentence. They indicate the location of something (e.g., “in,” “on,” “at”), the direction of motion (e.g., “to,” “from”), or the way in which something is connected to something else (e.g., “with,” “of”).

7. Conjunctions

Conjunctions join words, phrases, or clauses together. Coordinating conjunctions (e.g., “and,” “but,” “or”) connect words or phrases of equal syntactic importance, while subordinating conjunctions (e.g., “because,” “if”) connect clauses of unequal syntactic importance.

8. Interjections

Interjections are words or phrases that express strong emotion. They can be used to express surprise (e.g., “oh”), excitement (e.g., “wow”), or pain (e.g., “ouch”). Interjections are often set off from the rest of the sentence by punctuation, such as exclamation marks (e.g., “Oh!”).

9. Articles

Articles are words that come before nouns and signal whether the noun is specific or general. There are two articles in English: “the” (definite article) and “a/an” (indefinite article). For example, “the dog” refers to a specific dog, while “a dog” refers to any dog in general.

10. Conjuncts

Conjuncts are words or phrases that connect clauses or sentences and show the relationship between them. They can indicate contrast (e.g., “however,” “nevertheless”), addition (e.g., “also,” “furthermore”), or cause and effect (e.g., “so,” “therefore”). Conjuncts are used to create complex and compound sentences, and they play an important role in conveying the intended meaning of a text.

11. Participles

Participles are verbs that function as adjectives and end in “-ing” or “-ed.” For example, “The singing bird was beautiful” (present participle) or “The broken vase was discarded” (past participle). Participles are often used to create participial phrases, which can modify nouns or pronouns.

12. Modals

Modals are auxiliary verbs that express possibility, necessity, ability, or permission. Examples of modals include “can,” “could,” “may,” “might,” “must,” “shall,” “should,” “will,” and “would.” Modals are used to indicate the speaker’s attitude or to add emphasis to the main verb in a sentence.

13. Idioms

Idioms are expressions whose meanings cannot be understood from the meanings of the individual words. For example, the idiomatic expression “to pull someone’s leg” means to tease or make fun of someone, but the words “pull” and “leg” do not have this meaning on their own. Idioms are an important part of the English language and can add nuance and richness to communication.

These are some additional building blocks of English grammar that can help to deepen your understanding of the language. By learning and practicing these building blocks, you can improve your ability to express yourself in English effectively and fluently.