Course title: Use of English

Couse code: GST111

Concept and kinds of grammar

What is Grammar?

 Systematic structure and rules governing language

 Framework for organizing words and phrases
 Essential component of effective communication
 Includes morphology (word formation) and syntax (sentence structure)

Types of Grammar

1. Traditional Grammar

Rule-based approach

Focus on correctness and standards

2. Transformational Grammar

Studies underlying structures

Explains language generation

3. Functional Grammar

Emphasis on language use in context

Social and communicative functions

Traditional Grammar Examples

Rule: Never end a sentence with a preposition

Example: "With whom are you going?" vs. "Who are you going with?"
Rule: Don't split infinitives
Example: "I wanted to quickly finish my homework" vs. " I wanted to finish my
homework quickly "

Rule: Use whom for objects

Example: "Whom did you see?" vs. "Who did you see?"

Use "who" when referring to the SUBJECT (doer of action)

Use "whom" when referring to the OBJECT (receiver of action)

Transformational Grammar Examples

Developed by Noam Chomsky (1950s)

Deep Structure → Surface Structure Base: "The cat caught the mouse"
Transformations:

1. Passive: "The mouse was caught by the cat"

2. Question: "Did the cat catch the mouse?"
3. Negative: "The cat did not catch the mouse"
4. Complex: "The mouse that was caught by the cat esca

Functional Grammar Examples

Social Function
Purpose: Managing relationships and social interactions

Examples:

1. Levels of Formality:
 Formal: "Would you be so kind as to assist me?"
 Semi-formal: "Could you help me, please?"
 Informal: "Give me a hand?"
 Casual: "Help!"
2. Social Roles:
 Doctor to Patient: "I'm going to examine your throat now"
 Student to Professor: "I was wondering if I could get an extension"
 Friends: "Hey, what's up?"
Textual Function:

 Academic: "The research indicates a correlation"

 Casual: "It looks like they're connected"

Ideational Function:
Purpose: Representing experiences and ideas about the world

Examples:

1. Concrete Ideas:

"The car is red" (physical description)

"She runs fast" (action)

"The book is on the table" (location)

2. Abstract Concepts:

"Democracy enables freedom" (political concept)

"Love conquers all" (emotional concept)

"Time heals wounds" (metaphorical expression)

Fundamental Grammar Components

 Parts of Speech (nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.)

 Sentence Structure (subject, predicate, clauses)
 Tense and Aspect
 Voice (active/passive)
 Mood (indicative, subjunctive, imperative)
 Agreement (subject-verb, number, gender)
Parts of Speech: Building Blocks of Language

Eight Parts of Speech Overview

 Nouns: Person, place, thing, or idea

 Pronouns: Replace nouns (he, she, it, they)
 Verbs: Action or state of being
 Adjectives: Describe nouns
 Adverbs: Modify verbs, adjectives, other adverbs
 Prepositions: Show relationships between words
 Conjunctions: Connect words or phrases
 Interjections: Express emotion or feeling

Nouns

 Common nouns: general items (book, city)

 Proper nouns: specific items (Shakespeare, London)
 Abstract nouns: ideas (love, freedom)
 Collective nouns: groups (team, flock)

Pronouns:

 Personal: I, you, he, she, it

 Possessive: mine, yours, hers
 Relative: who, which, that
 Demonstrative: this, that, these

Verbs

 Action verbs: run, jump, write

 Linking verbs: am, is, was, become
 Helping verbs: have, has, will
 Modal verbs: can, could, should

Modifiers:
Adjective: This part of speech describes the noun or pronoun in the sentences. It
adds more information about the size, quality and the number of noun or pronoun.

Examples: I have two nice dresses.

The birthday cake was delicious.

Adverbs: describe verbs (quickly, softly) Adverb usually modifies the verbs and
adjectives and sometimes, it describes another adverb.

Example: Riya has completed her tasks smartly.

However, different types of adverbs are there in English grammar.
Adverb of Time: She came to home yesterday.
Adverb of Manner: Radha performed on the stage gracefully.
Adverb of Degree: She is very rude in nature.
Adverb of Place: I searched my notebook everywhere, but could not find it.

 Comparative forms: bigger, more quickly
 Superlative forms: biggest, most quickly

Preposition: It adds the location in the sentences and it describes more about the
subject.

Example: The cat is hidden under the study table.

She reached at the restaurant before me.
 Location: in, on, under
 Time: before, after, during
 Direction: to, from, towards

Conjunction: This part of speech joins the words, phrases as well as clauses and
makes each sentence interesting to read.

Example: This sweet is good to taste and well-shaped.

 Coordinating: and, but, or (FANBOYS)

 Subordinating: because, although, unless
 Correlative: either/or, neither/nor

Interjections:

 Strong emotions: Wow! Oh! Ouch!

 Mild expressions: Well, Um, Ah

Practice and Application

Example Sentence Analysis:
"The excited students quickly ran to their classroom, but they arrived late!"

 The (determinant)
 excited (adjective)
 students (noun)
 quickly (adverb)
 ran (verb)
 to (preposition)
 their (pronoun)
 classroom (noun)
 but (conjunction)
 they (pronoun)
 arrived (verb)
 late (adverb)
 ! (interjection mark)

Parts of Speech and Their Function

Noun: house

Article: a, an, the

Pronoun: I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they

Adjective: small, exhausted, disgusting

Verb: is building, moves, bought, has lived, had expected

Adverb: very, unusually, fast, quickly

Preposition: in, on, at, over, under, etc.

Conjunction: and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet (coordinating conjunctions); if, while,
after, because, etc. (subordinating conjunctions) either/or, neither/nor (correlative
conjunction)

Generally speaking, verbs (vb) describe an action or a condition and nouns (n)
describe the agent or "doer" and the result of the action:

He (n) is building (vb) a house (n).

He (s) is building (vb) a house (obj).

Nouns function as subject and object in the sentence, and the verb connects the two
by describing the action. So, the grammatical function of subject, verb and object
basically is to tell you 'who did what'.
The father (n) is clearing (vb) the mess (n). If you want to add details describing
the subject or the object you add adjectives (exhausted/disgusting), and if you want
to say how the action was performed you use adverbs (quickly). This process of
adding specific details is called modification.

The exhausted father is quickly clearing the disgusting mess on the floor.

When you want to say where, when or how the action occurs, you use
prepositional phrases (a preposition plus a noun) such as 'on the floor.'

Finally, you can make your statement even more specific by modifying adjectives
with both adverbs and adjectives.

The following sentence

The blue (adj) colour (n) is (vb) bright (adj). can become

The pale (adj) blue (adj) colour (n) is (vb) unusually (adv) bright (adj).

The chain of modification looks like this:

 Nouns → may be modified by

 Adjectives → which may be modified by

 Adjectives → which may be modified by

 Adverbs → which modify

 Verbs

The exhausted father (s) is (v) quickly clearing (v) the disgusting mess on the floor.
The pale blue colour (s) is (v) unusually bright.

The last part of speech is the conjunction which joins two clauses. (A clause is a
grammatical unit with a subject and a verb). There are two kinds of conjunctions:
the coordinating conjunctions and the subordinating conjunctions. Coordinating
conjunctions join two main clauses:

In the morning I study at home, and in the afternoon I go to the library.

Subordinating conjunctions connect a subordinate or dependent clause to a main
clause by establishing a logical relationship. Because I enjoy good films, I go to
Gen-X to rent videos.

Parts of Speech – Chart

Types Function Examples Sentences
Refers to Bikes are affordable.
Noun Objects or window, Bikes
People This window is made of glass.

He is a topper.
Replaces a
Pronoun he, it
noun It is on the table
Wonder, Grey She is a wonder woman
Describes a
Adjective
noun class He has grey hair
I was playing cricket
Describes
Verb Playing, running
action or state The dog is running
Describes a He was playing cricket slowly.
Adverb verb, adjective Slowly, too, very
or adverb The well is too deep
Links a noun The mouse is under the chair.
Preposition to another On, under
word I am on the Dias.
Conjunction Joins clauses but, after I have a bike but I do not drive.
and sentences
 I will have ice cream after finishing my lunch.
Oh! I passed the exam with distinction.
Shows
Interjection oh!Hurray!
exclamation Hurray! India won Gold medals.