Grammar is the system by which a language functions. The description of that system is also called a grammar. Children study grammar in school to improve understanding of their language, and of other languages.
All languages do not function in the same way. Latin depends heavily on changes in the forms of words. Chinese stresses the pitch of the speaker’s voice. English emphasizes the order of words. However, many languages include all these features to some degree.
Many grammarians believe that babies begin to learn basic grammar during their first year. By the age of 4 or 5, children have absorbed enough of it to communicate their thoughts. By the time they start school, they have used grammar continually for several years.
Anyone who understands how a language functions can identify that language even if most of the words are nonsense. For example, the major features of English grammar appear in the nonsense sentence The plomic basinkers pirked the lampix at the simter ciptically.
The above combination of words begins with a capital letter and ends with a period. It also has the rhythm of an English sentence. But more important, the words function like an English sentence. The word basinkers is a noun because it has a plural ending, –s. It also is marked by the article the. In the same way, lampix and simter are nouns because both are marked by the article the. The two words probably are singular nouns because they do not have a plural ending.
The word plomic is probably an adjective because it appears between an article and a noun. Pirked is probably a verb because –ed is a characteristic past tense ending of verbs. The word also has a position in the sentence typical of a verb. Pirked is a transitive verb because it has an object, lampix. At the simter can be identified as a phrase that modifies pirked, telling where. At is a preposition often followed by an object. Ciptically is probably an adverb because it ends in –ly. It may modify pirked, telling how or when.
Not all grammarians describe the system by which language functions in the same way. Various grammarians have formulated their own descriptions of how English grammar functions. The best-known descriptions are called traditional grammar, structural grammar, and generative grammar (also known as transformational grammar). Traditional grammar defines parts of speech by their meaning and function. Structural grammar defines them primarily by their order in a sentence. Generative grammar shifts the emphasis from analysis of parts of speech to the way people produce all of the possible sentences of the language.
Principles of English grammar
Words must be arranged in an orderly pattern to create a meaningful sentence structure. In English grammar, such a structure depends on three features: (1) word order, (2) inflection, and (3) function words.
Word order
ranks as the most important feature of English grammar. Changing the order of the words in a sentence can change the meaning of the sentence. For example, the words in the sentence John teased Joe are reversed in Joe teased John. The second sentence also has the reverse meaning. Word order shows which word in a sentence is the subject and which is the object. Word order also indicates which words modify other words.
Inflection
is a change in the form of a word. It shows a change in meaning or in the relationship between one word and another word or group of words.
The inflection of adjectives or adverbs is called comparison. The inflectional endings –er and –est are used to compare adjectives and adverbs, as in near, nearer, nearest. The ending –ly identifies many adverbs, such as nicely and tenderly. The listing of the different case forms of a noun or pronoun is called declension. English nouns have only two case forms: a common case for subject and object and a possessive case. The pronouns I, he, she, we, they, and who show three case forms—subjective (also called nominative), objective, and possessive. The pronouns it and you show only two case forms, common and possessive. Conjugation is the listing of the forms of a verb by mood, number, person, tense, and voice. For a summary of these forms, see the World Book article on Conjugation .
English also has the inflectional endings –s and –es to show most plurals: town, towns; church, churches. The endings –‘s and –s’ show possession: man’s, boys’.
Function words
primarily express relationships between various other words in a sentence or specify grammatical meanings. The most important function words, such as prepositions and conjunctions, show relationships. For example, the sentence He walked over the bridge includes the preposition over, and the sentence Tom and Jim went home has the conjunction and. Other function words include the articles a, an, and the. They identify nouns, as in A boy ran away or The boy ran away. The meaning of the main verb in a sentence can be affected by an auxiliary verb—for example, He must go now and He might return later.
Suprasegmentals
express meanings and show contrasts in spoken English. By using variations of sounds and pauses, a speaker can indicate exclamations, questions, and statements. The speaker can also express the difference in meaning between a lighthouse keeper and a light housekeeper. A writer must use punctuation marks and typography to show such differences.
Grammatical relationships
English has various grammatical relationships. They can be classified into: (1) the actor-action-goal relationship, (2) coordination, and (3) subordination.
The actor-action-goal relationship,
or subject-verb-complement relationship, is the basic grammatical relationship. It is the core of a sentence. This relationship expresses the idea that somebody or something does something, or is somebody or something. It is shown mainly by word order, as in John visited the twins.
Coordination
is a relationship which shows that two or more ideas should be considered equal. Their equality can be illustrated by expressing the ideas in parallel form. In the sentence She had been to Japan and had also traveled to Europe, the verbs had been and had traveled are parallel. Function words, such as and or or, are used to express coordination—for example, The farmer planted in March and harvested in August.
Subordination,
the third main grammatical relationship, indicates that one thing depends on another. The subordinate parts of most sentences serve as modifiers. They change in some way the meaning of the passage to which they are subordinate.
In most sentences, word order and function words show subordination, as in After the apples ripened, the farmer sent them to the local market. The clause the farmer sent them forms the actor-action-goal core of the sentence. The rest is subordination. The phrase after the apples ripened modifies the main action by telling when. The phrase to the local market modifies the action by telling where. The article the is a marker, and the adjective local modifies market by telling which one.
Grammar and usage
Grammar is the system of a language, and usage is the way people use that system. Usage thus reflects attitudes toward language, and what is regarded as “standard.” Grammar and usage may differ in everyday life. Just as some people drive cars better than others do, some speak and write “better” than others. However, usage means more than following or not following standard practices. A language develops through usage. A language that does not change becomes a dead language. Latin is a dead language because it exists almost exclusively as literature written centuries ago. To change, a language must be used by many people in everyday life.
Standard usage is basically determined by the majority of the educated people of a country. This group includes government leaders, teachers and other educators, and men and women who write for newspapers, magazines, television, and radio.
All language habits do not result from standard usage. For example, most people who live in the United States speak English, but they use certain forms of speech heard in their region. These forms of speech are called dialects. A person’s use of language also may depend on the situation. For example, an individual may speak formal English at a dinner party but use informal English at a sports event. Language habits can be influenced by a person’s occupation as well. People who work in an automobile plant may use slang that outsiders cannot understand. At other times, those same workers use standard English.
Many people want to know what is “correct” or “incorrect” English. A sentence may be grammatical or ungrammatical, but no absolute agreement exists about all usage and standard practices. The best guide to usage of English is what is appropriate or inappropriate at any particular time or place. Dictionaries and grammar handbooks can provide guidelines for appropriate usage.
Most disagreement about grammar and usage occurs when a certain usage begins to undergo change. For example, usage is gradually eliminating the distinction between the words who and whom. Because usage seems to favor who, whom may someday disappear.
