Grammar— Basic Concepts & Common Mistakes

Grammar— Basic Concepts & Common Mistakes

WORD – Word is the basic unit of a language, and blocks of words join together to form a sentence.




SENTENCE – A sentence is a group of words which communicates a complete thought.



(A) Subject:

(B) Predicate:

(C) Object:



(3) PHRASES AND CLAUSES

PHRASES -
 A phrase is a small group of words that forms a meaningful unit within a clause.



(A) Noun Phrase- A noun phrase is built around a single noun, for example:


 l A vase of roses stood on the table.
 l She was reading a book about the emancipation of women.


(B) Verb Phrase- A verb phrase is the verbal part of a clause, for example:


 l She had been living in London.
 l I will be going to college next year.


(C) Adjective Phrase


 l An adjective phrase is built around an adjective, for example:
 l He’s led a very interesting life.
 l A lot of the kids are really keen on football.

(D) Adverbial Phrase- An adverbial phrase is built round an adverb by adding words before and/or after it, for example:

 l The economy recovered very slowly.
 l They wanted to leave the country as fast as possible.


Prepositional Phrase- In a prepositional phrase the preposition always comes at the beginning, for example:
 l I longed to live near the sea.
 l The dog was hiding under the kitchen table.

CLAUSES


 A clause is a group of words that contains a verb (and usually other components too). A clause may form part of a sentence or it
may be a complete sentence in itself. For example:

 l He was eating a bacon sandwich.
 [clause]
 l She had a long career but she is remembered mainly for one early work.
 [clause] [clause]

(A) Main clause-
Every sentence contains at least one main clause. A main clause may form part of a compound sentence or
acomplex sentence, but it also makes sense on its own, as in this example:
 l He was eating a bacon sandwich.
 [main clause]


(B) Subordinate clause-
A subordinate clause depends on a main clause for its meaning. Together with a main clause, a
subordinate clause forms part of a complex sentence. Here are two examples of sentences containing subordinate clauses:

 l After we had had lunch, we went back to work.
 [subordinate clause] [main clause]


(i) Conditional clause
 A conditional clause is one that usually begins with if orunless and describes something that is possible or probable:
 If it looks like rain a simple shelter can be made out of a plastic sheet
 [conditional clause] [main clause]




(ii) Relative clause
 A relative clause is one connected to a main clause by a word such as which, that, whom, whose, when, where, orwho:
 I first saw her in Paris, where I lived in the early nineties.
 [main clause] [relative clause]



(C) Restrictive relative clause -

A restrictive relative clause (also known as a defining relative clause) gives essential information
about a noun that comes before it: without this clause the sentence wouldn’t make much sense. A restrictive relative clause
can be introduced by that, which, whose, who, or whom. You should not place a comma in front of a restrictive relative
clause:
 l She held out the hand which was hurt.
 l She held out the hand that was hurt.
 [main clause] [restrictive relative clause]


(D) Non-restrictive relative clause -

 A non-restrictive relative clause (also called a non-defining relative clause) provides extra
information that could be left out without affecting the meaning or structure of the sentence. Non-restrictive relative
clauses are normally introduced by which, whose, who, or whom, but never by that. You should place a comma in front of
them:
 She held out her hand, which Rob shook.
 [main clause] [non-restrictive relative clause]


(4) PHRASAL VERBS- A phrasal verb is a verb formed from two (or sometimes three) parts: a verb and an adverb or preposition.