Making sentences and knowing the essentials of English grammar in use is not only important, it’s also the easiest way to be fluent in English. It makes reading and writing in English simpler. The first rule to understanding Basic English grammar is understanding the foundation of English or the grammatical sentence structure well. Understanding the foundation of English grammar helps in writing simple sentences perfectly and improves your English communication be it written or in spoken English.
Basic grammatical sentence structure to keep in mind as a beginner
Sentence building or construction is something that needs to be learned at the beginning of learning English grammar. It forms the fundamentals of English grammar.
A good sentence must always have a subject and predicate. Example: Lara plays video games (“Lara” is the subject. The noun is always the subject. “Plays video games” is the predicate)
Types of Sentence structure
There are 4 important types of sentence structures to be kept in mind while making sentences:
1. The Simple sentence
A simple sentence would have only one independent clause in it. (An independent clause is a sentence that has just a subject and a verb within it. It always expresses a complete thought)
Example: I like playing the guitar.
2. The Compound sentence
A compound sentence is a sentence when two or more independent clauses are put together by using a conjunction or semicolon in the sentence.
Example: I like playing the guitar but Meena likes playing the piano.
3. The Complex sentence
These kinds of sentences have an independent clause along with a dependant clause in the sentence (A dependant clause is a clause that has a subject and a verb but cannot express a complete thought on its own)
Example: My dog barks when he is hungry.
4. The compound-complex sentence
A compound-complex sentence has at least 2 independent clauses and one dependent clause within a single sentence.
Example: Sally did not attend the party because she was ill so Susan was disappointed.
Top 15 English grammar rules to keep in mind while making English sentences
Rules are meant to be broken! Well said, but grammar rules are best to be followed, for you to be precise and fluent in English. Here are the top 15 rules that you would prefer to follow rather than breaking as they form the ground rules to English grammar.
Make sentence rules
Making simple sentences perfectly is important, for the reader to understand the thoughts of the writer. This makes it even more important for both to know and follow the same grammar rules while conversing in English. Simple rules to follow while conversing in English:
1. A sentence is considered complete only when it has a noun and a verb in it. Example: Birds are flying.
2. The order of a basic sentence should be Subject-verb-object. Example: Lara loves football.
3. A proper noun always begins with a capital letter. Example: Mary, London, etc.
4. Always have the subject and verb in the same number agreement. If a subject is singular, the verb must also be singular; if a subject is plural its verb must also be plural.
Example: A cat is sleeping on the grass / Two cats are sleeping on the grass.
5. The words “your” and “you’re” are two different words with different meanings
Sentence Structure rules
A sentence structure makes it easier to make perfect sentences in English, follow these rules to be perfect at sentence building.
6. Use an Active voice preferably a passive voice in sentences. Example: I practice the piano every day.
7 . While speaking of Habitual actions, use the simple present tense. Example: David likes exercising.
8. Use Adjectives before a noun. Example: She is a charming girl.
9. Use the indefinite article a/an for countable nouns and use the definite article “the” for specific countable nouns and all uncountable nouns. Example: I ate an apple / She had a book.
10. Add “ed” to words to regular verbs to describe past tense. Example Walk + ed = walked, Jump + ed = jumped.
11. Use a conjunction to join two sentences together. Example: Lara did not go to school as she was unwell.
Punctuation Rules
We can write the perfect sentence, but placing the wrong punctuation marks is one easy way for being mistaken by your readers reading your sentence. Punctuation rules to follow to be able to express your thoughts and it’s intensity perfectly.
12. The apostrophe is a punctuation mark placed where a letter or letters has been removed from any word. Example: You are = You’re, I am = I’m.
13. Always start a sentence with a capital letter and end with a full stop. Example: Mary had a lamb.
14. Always use an apostrophe to show the possession or owner of an object. To show possession with a singular noun, add an apostrophe plus the letter ‘s’. Example: Mary’s lamb. Alice’s watch, etc.
15. Use a comma to connect two ideas into one in a sentence. Example: Rio went shopping, and Brad walked the dog.
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