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THE GRAMMAR PRIMER

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VIEW THE COMPOSITION OF GRAMMAR​
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Rules of Grammar Keep You Safe from Internet Trolls
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KEY TERM:
​PILKUNNUSSIJA - A person whose only purpose in life is to make sure you understand how bad your grammar skills are. That is pilkunnussija, literally translates as “comma fucker”. Excuse the language. It’s Finnish.

BASIC GRAMMAR RULES

Homophones are Critically Important - they are the pet peeves of every grammar nazi online. They are words that are pronounced in the same way as other words but have different meanings, even if they are spelled differently. This can create confusion and there are many of these words to confuse people with.
For example:
  • they’re – their – there (everyone’s pet peeve!)
  • you’re – your
  • it’s – its
  • here – hear
  • break – brake

Use the correct conjugation of the verb - always change the verb to agree with the subject. The main subjects you need to be careful with are he, she and it because they often have a different form to the others. For example:
  • She has two dogs. RIGHT
  • She have two dogs. WRONG
This seems like a small mistake but unfortunately it’s a very noticeable one. Remember that when you describe something using ‘there is/are’, the verb must agree with the first item you mention. For example:
  • There is a sofa, some chairs and a table.
  • There are some chairs, a table and a sofa.

Sentence construction - a sentence usually has two, or possibly three, clauses (subject + verb + object), linked by a conjunction. A good way to make your sentences clear is to add commas. Commas help the reader understand where one phrase finishes and another begins. The most common occasions where it’s recommended to put a comma are:
  • Between two clauses. For example, If the weather is nice tomorrow, we’re going to the park.
  • To separate items in a list. For example, Our kids like swimming, skiing, ice-skating and cycling.
  • After conjunctions. For example, Our holiday was great and the hotel was wonderful. However, the weather was awful.
  • For extra detail in the middle of a sentence (a non-defining clause). For example, My neighbor, who’s from Brazil, is really good at cooking.
Every sentence with a capital letter!

​Never use a double negative
There are two ways to express a negative concept. For example, if you want to say the room is empty, you can say:
  • ​There is nothing in the room. OR There isn’t anything in the room.
The words ‘nothing’ and ‘anything’ have the same meaning, but ‘nothing’ is used with an affirmative verb, and ‘anything’ is used with a negative verb.

This rule applies to words like:
  • nobody – anybody
  • none – any​

​Adjectives and adverbs
Use adjectives and adverbs correctly. Adjectives describe, identify and quantify people or things and usually go in front of a noun. They don’t change if the noun is plural. Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives and other adverbs and usually come after the verb. For example:
  • He’s a slow driver. (adjective)
  • He drives slowly. (adverb)
Most adverbs are created by adding -ly to an adjective as in the example, but a few adverbs are irregular, such as:
fast (adjective) – fast (adverb)
For example, Your English is good. You speak English well.
STAY ACTIVE
Active Voice: Every language starts an active sentence with the subject, or the "doer." In English, the verb (what's being done) follows the subject. If there is an object (the receiver of the action), it comes after the verb. The formula looks like this:
  • S+V+O. This rule is the foundation of the English language.
    • Mary walked the dog.
    • The dog liked Mary.
    • I did not like the dog.

​CONJUNCTION FUNCTION

Connect your ideas with conjunctions
​If you want to connect two ideas or short phrases, you can do so by using a conjunction. For example,
I’m studying math. Math is important.
becomes:
I’m studying English because it’s important.
The most common conjunctions are:
  • and – addition
  • because – to give the reason
  • but – to express contrast
  • so – to describe a consequence
  • or – to describe an alternative​
  • Coordinating conjunctions are easy to remember with an acronymic mnemonic device:
    • FANBOYS
      • For
      • And
      • Nor
      • But
      • Or
      • Yet
      • So

​PUNCTUATION
Use a Comma to Connect Two Ideas As One
FANBOYS are used when connecting two ideas as one in a single sentence, but don't forget the comma.
  • I do not walk Mary's dog, nor do I wash him.
  • Mary fed her dog, and I drank tea.
  • Mary feeds and walks her dog every day, but the dog is still hyperactive.

Use a Serial Comma in a List
The serial comma, or what’s known as the Oxford comma, is controversial. Some want to eliminate it while others don't know how to use it.
  • The serial comma is the last comma in a list, usually appearing before "and." The serial comma comes after "dog" in this sentence:
    • Pets R Us has lizards, dogs, and birds.

Commas separate units in a list. In the above case, each unit only has one part, so it's easy. Confusion happens when the units are bigger, but the rule still applies:
  • Pets R Us has lizards and frogs, dogs and cats, and parakeets and macaws.

Notice that the serial comma comes before "and" but not the last "and" in the sentence. The "and" that follows the comma is only there because it sounds better. Grammatically, "and" is irrelevant. Only units matter.

Use the Semicolon to Join Two Ideas
To join two ideas use a coordinating conjunction. The two ideas can be separate sentences, but if they are closely relate use a semicolon.
  • Mary's dog is hyperactive; it won't stop barking or sit still.
  • Mary has to walk her dog every day; it is the most hyperactive dog anyone has ever seen.

VERB TENSES
Pay attention to verb tenses
  • Present simple – to describe habits and permanent situations. For example, We live in New York.
  • Present continuous – to describe current situations and future plans. For example, I’m meeting John later.
  • Past simple – to describe finished past actions. For example, They arrived at 3 p.m.
  • Present perfect – to describe past actions connected to now. For example, We’ve finished the reports.
  • Will – to describe future actions. For example, I’ll meet you in front of the conference center.

Use the Simple Present Tense for Habitual Actions
The simple present is the tense you use for any habitual action. The things you always do or do every Monday are described with the simple present, which just means you pick the first form of any verb.
  • Mary likes dogs.
  • I don't walk Mary's dog.
  • Mary and I drink coffee every Monday together.

Use the Present Progressive Tense for Current Action
The present progressive tense is for anything that is happening right now. All of the progressive tenses are easy to spot because their verbs always end with "-ing" and get a helping verb.
  • A helping verb is just so we know who and when we're talking about. In the present progressive, the helping verbs are the present tense conjugations of "to be."
    • The barking dogs outside are driving me crazy.
    • Mary is playing with her hyperactive dog.

Add "ed" to verbs for the Past Tense
When we talk about the past, we have to add an "-ed" to regular verbs to make the second form. Irregular verbs are tricky and have their own sets of rules. Drink, for example, turns to "drank." Most of the time, though, "-ed" will do.
  • I drank a lot of tea yesterday, but Mary didn't.
  • The dogs stopped barking two seconds ago, and I am feeling better.
  • Mary played fetch with her hyperactive dog.

Use Present Perfect for the Unfinished Past
The present perfect can be confusing for some, but it is one of the most important rules. When people talk about things that have already happened but consider the time in which they occurred to be unfinished, they use the third form of the verb with a helping verb. The helping verb for the present perfect is the present tense conjugation of "to have."
  • I have drunk three cups of tea today.
  • Mary's hyperactive cur dog has bitten me three times so far.
  • Mary has walked her hyperactive lab 100 times this week.
Unfortunately, the only way to know the third forms of verbs is to remember them.

Use Present Perfect Progressive for Unfinished Action and Past
When the action as well as the time is considered unfinished, the verb loads up on third form helping verbs ("to be" and "to have") and changes to the progressive form.
  • Western countries have been waging wars in the Middle East for thousands of years.
  • I have been drinking tea all day.
  • Mary's dog has been barking like crazy since it was born.

​Use Past Perfect for the First of Two Past Actions
When two things happen in the past, we have to mark which one happened first. The one that happened first changes to third form and gets the helping verb, "had."
  • By the time I drank one cup of tea, Mary's dog had barked a million times.
  • I had not yet eaten breakfast when Mary walked her dog.​
RELATED RESOURCES AND WORD LISTS
Rules of Grammar Keep You Safe from Trolls
The Tale of the Grammatical Faux Pas ​Calculating the Sum of All Parts of Speech
Punctuating the Point - the Rules of Punctuation
Punctuating with Obscurity
To Prefix or To Suffix - Now That is the Question
​Whipping Up a Latin or Greek Prefix
​
​From the Reference Corner
Misusing a Word Means 20 to Life in the Pen
​FBI Most Wanted List of Word Misuse ​
VIEW THE COMPOSITION OF GRAMMAR​
VIEW THE RULES OF GRAMMAR
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