If you are studying for an exam or want to learn the details of grammar rules, you can study our grammar section at English Grammar Basics.
One commonality among everyone in the whole world is that they learned to speak before they learned grammar. Speaking is the first step for any English learner. So if you are a novice at English, please focus on your speaking and listening skills prior to studying grammar. After being able to speak English fluently, you will realize how much easier grammar is. But it does not work the other way around. Being fluent in English speaking will help you with your grammar studies, but studying grammar will NOT help you with your speaking.
In this article, the four most basic grammar topics are explained, which consists of 1) subject, 2) predicate, 3) verb, and 4) article. This is the absolute minimum you should know. After you become comfortable with speaking, then you can study more advanced grammar topics. For now, please review and study the four items described below.
This rule might sound strange to many ESL students, but it is one of the most important rules. If you want to pass examinations, then study grammar. However, if you want to become fluent in English, then you should try to learn English without studying the grammar.
Studying grammar will only slow you down and confuse you. You will think about the rules when creating sentences instead of naturally saying a sentence like a native. Remember that only a small fraction of English speakers know more than 20% of all the grammar rules. Many ESL students know more grammar than native speakers. I can confidently say this with experience. I am a native English speaker, majored in English Literature, and have been teaching English for more than 10 years. However, many of my students know more details about English grammar than I do. I can easily look up the definition and apply it, but I don't know it off the top of my head.
I often ask my native English friends some grammar questions, and only a few of them know the correct answer. However, they are fluent in English and can read, speak, listen, and communicate effectively.
Many students learn vocabulary and try to put many words together to create a proper sentence. It amazes me how many words some of my students know, but they cannot create a proper sentence. The reason is because they didn't study phrases. When children learn a language, they learn both words and phrases together. Likewise, you need to study and learn phrases.
If you know 1000 words, you might not be able to say one correct sentence. But if you know 1 phrase, you can make hundreds of correct sentences. If you know 100 phrases, you will be surprised at how many correct sentences you will be able to say. Finally, when you know only a 1000 phrases, you will be almost a fluent English speaker.
What is a subject?
The subject in a sentence is "who" or "what" you are talking about. Every sentence needs a subject. If you don't have a subject, then the sentence is incorrect and nobody will understand what you are talking about.In other languages, the subject is not always required. Verbally, the person listening to you will understand what you are talking about, so a subject is not required. In English, a subject is always required.
Here are examples of small sentences with the subject underlined.
"I am hungry"
"My brother is very smart"
"That computer is very expensive"
"We are going to the store now"
"My sister and I will be waiting here"
"The building is very big"
"When are you going to eat lunch?"
"Why are they waiting in line?"
"Who is going to take you to the store?"
What is a predicate?
The predicate in a sentence is the section that informs the person what the subject is or what it is doing. It is a phrase that contains a verb. The verb is always in the predicate.Let's look at the sentences we used in the subject lesson to identify the predicates. They will be underlined.
"I am hungry"
"My brother is very smart"
"That computer is very expensive"
"We are going to the store now"
"The building is very big"
In the above short sentences, we have identified the subject and predicate. In the most basic sentences, you need a subject and an action associated with the subject. Let's go on to verbs to understand this in more detail.
What is a verb?
A verb is an action, existence, or occurrence. In the simple sentences we used so far, the verb is mostly in the existence form. They are "am", "is", and "are".Other types of verbs are action verbs such as:
Wash
Run
Walk
Throw
Jump
Dance
Laugh
Learn
Teach
There are many action verbs, but I only listed a few to let you know what I am referring to. Here are some sentences to help you understand.
"I need to wash my face"
"Jane taught Jill"
"Mike is laughing"
A verb can also start at the beginning of the sentence.
"Throw the ball at the catcher"
"Run towards the finish line"
It is important to understand the verb, but having just a subject and a verb is not sufficient. For example, "Jill run" is not a complete sentence. Although Jill can be the subject, and "run" is the verb, this is not a complete sentence. That is why the previous lesson on predicate is important. With the predicate, we can turn the sentence into a proper sentence. "Jill is running"