1.

Definitions of Grammar

#. The whole system and structure of a language or of languages in general,

usually taken as consisting of syntax and morphology (including inflections)
and sometimes also phonology and semantics.

#. Grammar is the system an structure of a language. The rules of grammar

help us decide the order we put words in and which form of a word to use.
When you’re talking about grammar it is useful to know some basic terms.

#. In linguistics, the grammar of a natural language is its set of structural

rules on speakers’ or writers’ usage and creation of clauses, phrases, and
words. The term can also refer to the study of such rules, a subject that
includes phonology, morphology, and syntax, together with phonetics,
semantics and pragmatics.

#. Grammar is the way that words can be put together in order to make
sentences. It is the way in which we obey the rules that are set there.
Grammar is the set of language rules that you use, most of the time
unconsciously, to create phrases and sentences that convey meaning.

#. The word grammar comes from the Greek, meaning “craft of letters”. It is
an apt description. In any language, grammar is:

- The systematic study and description of a language (as

compared with usage);
- A set of rules and examples dealing with the syntax and
word structures (morphology) of a language.

#. Grammar is the study or use of the rules about how words change their
form and combine with other words to make sentences.

#. The study of the classes of words, their inflections and their functions and
relations in the sentences.

#. The study of what is to be preferred and what avoid in inflections.

#. Speech or writing evaluated according to its conformity to grammatical
rules. The principles or rules of an art science or technique.

#. A common contemporary definition of grammar is the underlying structure

of a language that any native speaker of that language knows intuitively.

#. Grammar, rules of a language governing the sounds, words, sentences

and other elements as well as their combination and interpretation.

The word grammar also denotes the study of these abstract

features or a book presenting rules or these rules actually. In a restricted
sense, the term refers only to the study of sentences and word structure
(syntax and morphology), excluding vocabulary and pronunciation.

#. A description of the structure of a language and the way in which linguistic

units such as words and phrases are combined to produce sentences in the
language. It usually takes into account the meanings and functions these
sentences have in overall system of language.

#. Grammar describes the speaker’s knowledge of the language. It looks at

language in relation to how it may be structured in the speaker’s mind, and
which principles and parameters are available to the speaker when producing
the language.

#. The process of describing the structure of phrases and sentences in such

a way that we account for all the grammatical sequences in a language and
rule out all the ungrammatical sequences.

2. Types of Grammar
- Teachers follow a course of pedagogical grammar when instructing
English language learners. While students mainly have to deal with
the nuts-and-bolts of prescriptive, traditional grammar ( such as
making sure verbs and subjects agree and where to put commas in a
sentence), linguists focus on the infinitely more complex aspects of
language.
 They study how people acquire language and debate wether every
child is born with a concept of universal grammar, examining
everything from how different languages compared to each other
(comparative grammar) to the variety of formulations within a single
language (descriptive grammar) to the way in which words and
usage interrelate to create meaning (lexico grammar).
The American linguist Noam Chomsky posted the theory of Universal
Grammar. It says that common rules dictate all languages.
In his view, humans have an innate knowledge of language that
informs those rules. That, he reasoned, is why children can pick up
on complex grammar without explicit knowledge of the rules. But
grammarians still debate about wether this theory holds true.

There are also prescriptive and descriptive grammar types:

 Prescriptive grammar is the set of rules people should follow when using
the English language.
 Descriptive grammar is how we describe the way people are using the
language.
 Comparative Grammar; the analysis and comparison of the grammatical
structures of related languages is known as comparative language.
Contemporary work in comparative grammar is concerned with “ a faculty
of language that provides an explanatory basis for how a human being
can acquire a first language. In this way the theory of grammar is a
theory of human language and hence establishes the relationships
among all languages.
 Generative grammar; includes the rules determining the structure and
interpretation of sentences that speakers accept as belonging to the
language. Simply put a generative grammar is a theory of competence: a
model of the psychological system of unconscious knowledge that
underlies a speaker’s ability to produce and interpret utterances in a
language.
 Mental Grammar, the generative grammar stored in the brain that allows
a speaker to produce language that other speakers can understand is
 mental grammar. All humans are born with the capacity for constructing a
mental grammar, given linguistic experience, this capacity for language is
called language faculty.
 Pedagogical grammar; grammatical analysis and instruction designed for
second language students. Pedagogical grammar is a slippery concept.
The term is common used to denote:
I. Pedagogical Process;
II. Pedagogical Content reference;
III. Combinations of process and content.
 Performance grammar; a description of the syntax of English as it is
actually used by speakers in dialogues.
 Reference grammar; a description of the grammar of a language, with
explanations of the principles governing the construction of words,
phrases, clauses and sentences.
 Theoretical grammar; the study of the essential components of any
human language. Theoretical grammar is concerned with making
completely explicit, the formalises of grammar… besides we have
traditional, transformational grammars.

3. Grammatical Category

In linguistics, a grammatical category or grammatical feature is a property of

items within the grammar of a language. Within each category there are two
or more possible values (sometimes called grammemes) which are normally
mutually exclusive.

Frequently encountered grammatical categories include:

 Case; varying according to function, or we can also say that it

is a grammatical category that shows the function of the noun
or noun phrase in a sentence.
Nominative – the form of a noun or noun phrase which usually
shows that the noun or noun phrase can function as the
subject of the sentence.
 Genitive – It usually shows possession in relation with another
noun or noun phrase in a sentence.
Accusative – It functions as the direct object of the verb in a
sentence.
Dative – It functions as the indirect object of the verb in a
sentence.
 Person; a grammatical category which determines the choice
of pronouns in a sentence according to such principles as:
a. Wether the pronoun represents or includes the person
or persons actually speaking or writing (first person).
b. Wether the pronoun represents the person or persons
being addressed (second person).
c. Wether the pronoun represents someone or something
other than the speaker (writer or the listener) reader
(third person he, she, it, they).
 Gender; with values like male, female, animate, inanimate,
neuter, and more general classes.
 Number; varying according to the number of things.
 Tense; Varying according to when and action takes place in,
wether in present, past or future.
In English, verbs may be in the past or present tense.
However, the present tense form of the verb is also used in:
a. Timeless expressions: The sun rises in the east.
b. For future events: I leave/am leaving next Monday.
c. Past events for dramatic effect: suddenly she
collapses on the floor.
The past tense form of the verb may also occur in
conditional clauses: If you worked harder, you would
pass the exam.
 Mood; varying according to modality, or the speaker’s attitude
towards the action.
 Aspect; varying according to how much time the/an action will
take, wether finished, repeated or habitual. Suited
independently of its location in time, an event mat be viewed as
 having any a number of different temporal organizations: it may
be seen as having internal structures or as consisting of an
unanalysable whole, it may be seen as beginning, continuing or
ending.
Although the use of terms varies from author to author, a
distinction should be made between grammatical categories
and lexical categories. Lexical categories (considered syntactic
categories) largely correspond to the parts of speech of
traditional grammar and refer to nouns, adjectives etc.
4. Parts of Speech
There are eight parts of speech in the English language: noun, pronoun,
verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction and interjection. The
parts of speech indicate how the word functions in meaning as well as
grammatically within the sentence. An individual word can function as
more than one part of speech when used in different circumstances.
I. Noun – A noun is the name of a person, place, thing or idea.
Example: Man, Sutte College, house, happiness.
A noun is a word for a person, place thing or idea. Nouns are
often used with an article (the, a, an) but not always. Proper nouns
always start with a capital letter; common nouns do not. Nouns
can be singular or plural, concrete or abstract. Nouns show
possession by adding ‘s. Noun can function in different roles
within a sentence, for example: they can be a subject, indirect
object, direct object, subject complement, or object of a
proposition.
II. Pronoun – A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun.
Example: She, we, it, they.
A pronoun is usually substituted for a specific noun, which is
called its antecedent. In the sentence above the antecedent for
the noun she is the girl. Pronouns are further defined by type:
personal pronouns refer to specific person or things; Possessive
pronouns indicate ownership; reflexive pronouns are used to
emphasize another noun or pronoun; relative pronouns introduce
 a subordinate clause; and demonstrative pronouns identify, point
to or refer to nouns.
III. Verb – a verb expresses action or being. Example: Jump, is,
write, become.
The verb in a sentence expresses action and being, there is a
main verb and sometimes one or more helping verbs. ( she can
sing. Sing is the main verb; can is the helping verb) A verb must
agree with its subject in number (both are in singular or both are in
plural). Verbs also take different forms to express tense.
IV. Adjective – An adjective modifies or describes a noun or
pronoun. Example: Pretty, old, blue, smart.
An adjective is a word used ro modify or describe a noun or a
pronoun. It usually answers the question of which one, what kind,
or how many. (articles [a, an, the] are usually classified as
adjectives).
V. Adverb – An adverb modifies or describes a verb, an adjective or
another adverb. Example: Gently, extremely, carefully, well.
An adverb will never describe or modify a noun. It usually answers
the questions of When, Where, How, Why, under What conditions,
or to what degree. Adverbs often end in y.
VI. Preposition – A preposition is a word placed before a noun or
pronoun to form a phrase modifying another word in the sentence.
Example: by, with, about, until.
Therefore a preposition is always part of a prepositional phrase.
The prepositional phrase almost always functions as an adjective
or as adverb. The following list includes the most common
prepositions: the young girl brought me a very long letter from the
teacher, and then she quickly disappeared. Oh my!
VII. Conjunctions – A conjunction joins words, phrases or clauses.
Example: and, but, or, while, because.
a conjunction also indicates the relationship between the elements
joined. Coordinating conjunctions connect grammatically equal
elements: and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet. Subordinating
conjunctions connect clauses that are not equal: because,
 although, while, since, etc. there are other types of conjunctions
as well.
VIII. Interjection – an interjection is a word used to express emotion.
Example: Oh! Wow! Oops!
An interjection is a word used to express emotion. It is often
followed by an exclamation point.
“The young girl brought me a very long letter from the
teacher and the she quickly disappeared. Oh my!”
5. Agreement

The word agreement when referring to a grammar rule means that the words a
writer uses needs to align in number and in gender (when applicable).

Certain closely related words in sentences have matching forms. Subjects and
verbs are closely related, as are pronouns and their antecedents. When such
words are correctly matched, they agree. There are two main types of
agreement: subject-verb agreement and noun-pronoun agreement.

 Subject-verb agreement: number alignment.

When you see a singular subject of the sentence, the verb that you use
must also be singular. These should always agree with one another.
Example: The conclusion shows that variables X and Y are related.
Here the subject is “conclusion” and the verb is “shows”. Because
“conclusion” is singular there is only one, the verb should also be
singular. If the verb were plural, it would refer to more than one subject.
Here is an example of where that plural verb would work:
Example: The results shows that variables X and Y are related.
Notice here that the subject is “results” and the verb is “Show”. Because
“results” is plural (more than one result), the verb should also be plural.
Here the verb “shows” singular loses its “s” to become “show” (plural).
Hint to remember: singular verbs usually end in “s”.
 Noun-pronoun agreement: number and gender alignment.
When you use a singular word and you want to replace it with pronoun,
be sure that the two words agree both in number and in gender.
Example: The man walked to his car.
In this example “man” is singular, male noun, so “his” is the appropriate
pronoun to replace the noun. When referring to groups or general nouns,
you will want to pay close attention to the number and gender
agreement.
Example: Students need to bring their own lunch.
In this example, “students” is a plural noun, and there is the appropriate
plural pronoun to replace the noun. In the English language, the plural
third person pronoun has no gender (unlike the singular “his” or “her”).
Note That in APAF, use of the singular “they” is also encouraged,
meaning that using “they” as a singular pronoun without gender allows
for statements that do not assume or ascribe gender to individuals.
Example: Upper management refers to its policies frequently in the
handbook.
Because “management” is a group of words, you will want to use a word
to replace the group as whole. It is a singular entity, one group, and it
does not have a gender, so you would use the singular, non-gendered
word “it”.
Agreement, which is also called “concord”, is in an exceedingly common
phenomenon in languages generally, but it is not present equally in all of
them. Swahili, Russian, Latin and German have a great deal of
agreement, French and Spanish have somewhat less, English has very
little, Chinese has none at all.
Carol Loves Her Cat
 Number Singular

Third Person
Person
Singular

Present
Agreement Tense
Tense

Voice Active

Female (she,
Gender
her)

This example explains clearly and sums the question up.

6. Grammatical Gender
Grammatical gender is the way to categorize nouns. In fact, it’s just one
of many noun classification systems you will see across the languages
all around the globe.
Gender is a matching system, sort of in the same way that verb to the
noun doing the action. Languages have a lot of ways of showing what
words are related to which other words, and really that is the core of what
“grammar” is: the rules combining words.
Gender is a grammatical feature, in a family with person, number, and
case. In the languages that have grammatical gender – according to a
representative typological sample, almost half of the languages in the
world – it is a property that separates nouns into classes.
These classes are often meaningful and often linked to biological sex,
which is why many languages are said to have a “masculine” and a
“feminine” gender. A typical example is Italian, which has masculine
words for male persons (il bambino “the M little boy”) and feminine words
for female persons (la bambina “the F little girl”).
Gender interacts in various ways with other grammatical features. For
example, it may be limited to the singular number or be third person, and
it may be crosscut by case distinctions. These and other interrelations
can complicate the taste of figuring out a gender system in first or second
language acquisition. Yet, children master gender early, making use of a
broad variety of cues. By contrast, gender is famously difficult for second
language learners. This is especially true fro adults and for learner
whose first language does not have a gender system. Nevertheless,
tests show that even for this group, native-like competence is possible
attain.
Usage in English has evolved with regards to an emerging preference for
gender-neutral language. There is now large-scale use of neuter they as
a third person singular instead of the default generic he when referring to
a person of unknown gender. Certain traditional feminine forms of nouns
(such as authoress, poetess) are also increasingly avoided, with the
male form of such nouns (author and poet) having become gender-
neutral.
Grammatical gender, manifests itself when words related to a noun like
determiners, pronouns or adjectives change their form (inflect) according
to the gender of a noun they refer to (agreement).
As mentioned before, it is important to highlight the fact that natural
gender is based on sex (male and female), grammatical gender is based
on the type of noun (masculine and feminine) and is not tied to sex.
A grammatical distinction in some languages that allows words to be
divided into categories such as “masculine and feminine or neuter” on
the basis of inflectional and agreement properties, not linked to nouns
with inherent gender.
For Instance: In Spanish and Portuguese, most nouns ending in –a are
feminine and ending in –o are masculine, and both articles and
adjectives agree in gender with nouns they modify. We should
emphasize that this gender distinction is not based on a distinction in
sex.
The French noun in le livre (“the book”) is grammatically masculine, but
neither we nor the French people consider a book to be biologically male.
 References

 Unit 7: Grammar Linguistics;

 Warriner’s English Grammar and Composition Second Edition;
 Blog.duoling.com
 Butte.edu/departments;
 Writter.com/blog/what is grammar?
 Thoughtco.com
 En.Wikipedia.org (Grammar).