Category: Grammar

In standard English, there should only be one negative form in the subject-predicate structure. 

The negative form is created by using negative words such as nobody, no one, nowhere, nothing.
Example:

The negative form may also be created by making the verb negative.
Example:

However, there are cases when we hear double and even triple negatives being used in some regional dialects of English and other languages worldwide. This is mostly used in informal conversation and is not acceptable in formal contexts especially in writing.

Double Negative
This is created by adding a negation to the verb and to words that modify the noun or the object of the verb.
Example:

Double Negation with Adjectives and Adverbs  ( not + negative adjective/adverb )
You can use ‘not’ + a negative adjective or adverb to make your sentence less strong. By using this form, the overall meaning of the sentence becomes positive but it shows that the writer is fully aware of it. This is mainly used in formal writing.
Example:

We use capital letters for the first word of a sentence and for a proper noun.

Rules:

1. Names of countries, cities, streets, planets, religions, companies are all proper nouns so you have to capitalise them. 

2. Do not capitalise seasons.

3. Capitalise words that come from the names of places such as nationalities, languages and adjectives that refer to the people or things from a particular place. Adjectives and nouns that come from the names of religions must be capitalised as well.

4. The most important words in film, music and book titles are capitalised. A person’s job title is also capitalised only when it is used before the name of the person.

Ellipsis in English grammar is when words have been intentionally left out to make the sentences more concise instead of having wordy sentences.

Despite the omission of words, the use of ellipsis should not affect the completeness and correctness of the sentence.

Examples:

Two Types of Ellipsis

1. Situational Ellipsis

This type of ellipsis is mostly used in speaking in informal conversation. 

We exclude grammatical words like articles, pronouns, prepositions, and to shorten responses to questions.

Examples:

2. Textual Ellipsis

This type of ellipsis is used in both speaking and writing. This choice of omission takes place since we can easily understand the context from the surrounding text. It is also more related to specific grammar rules.

a. After “and” and “but”

In coordinated clauses joined together by ‘and‘, ‘but’ and ‘or’, some words in the latter clause are often omitted since they have been brought up in the first clause.

Examples:

b. Adverbial and Relative Clauses

To reduce adverbial clauses, textual ellipsis is also used. This is done by discarding the subject and the auxiliary verb after the conjunctions while, when, after, before.

To reduce relative clauses, sometimes the relative pronoun and auxiliary verb ‘be’ are discarded.

The past continuous describes ongoing events or actions in the past.
Structure:

Functions of the Past Continuous:
To describe the background of a story before telling more about what happened.

To talk about an unfinished action that was stopped by another action or event.

To talk about actions or events that were happening at a certain time.

Difference in meaning:

When my mother left home, I prepared my breakfast. – I started preparing my breakfast after she left.

When my mother left home, I was preparing breakfast. – I started preparing my breakfast before she left home.

Tips:
1. Always remember the form be + ing.

2. Spell correctly.
If a verb ends in e, remove the e then add -ing.
live = She was living in Madrid.

If a verb ends in one vowel and one consonant, double the final consonant then add -ing.
sit = He was sitting down.

Exception: For verbs ending in w and y, do not double the consonant.
draw = He was drawing.
pray = They were praying.

The way words are placed or arranged in a sentence is called word order. It is important to place these words correctly in order to express your thoughts and ideas. The word order also affects the meaning of a sentence.

In an English sentence, the basic word order is Subject + Verb + Object

Example:

When we want to tell more about the verb, we use adverbs. If more than one adverb is used, we have to follow the order of adverbs.

Structure:
Subject + Verb + Object + Adverb Of Place + Adverb Of Time
Place usually comes before Time.

The adverb of time can also be used at the beginning of a sentence.

Example:

Tips:

Place or Time should never be placed between the verb and the object.

A complex sentence is formed when an independent clause (simple sentence) is joined with one or more dependent clauses. This form of sentence is mainly used to provide more details to explain the main point. Usually, a comma is used to separate the clauses.

In most cases, subordinating conjunctions are used to link the independent clause to a dependent clause. They are placed at the beginning of a dependent clause or right after the independent clause.

Examples of subordinating conjunctions: although, like, because, even though, if, since, whenever.

The order of clauses is of no bearing when writing complex sentences. You can switch them as long as the sentence makes sense.

Structure:

Examples of Complex Sentences with more than two clauses.

Tips:

The use of a comma depends on which clause the sentence begins with.

If the complex sentence starts with a dependent clause, place a comma between it and the independent clause.
If the complex sentence starts with an independent clause, no comma is required.

Example:

Punctuating a sentence correctly may sometimes seem difficult and discretionary. But with informed choices, you can get rid of assumptions in proper punctuation of sentence.

Here are the eight punctuation patterns.

Pattern 1: Simple Sentence

Use a period to punctuate one independent clause that is consist of a subject and a verb.

Example:

Pattern 2: Compound Sentence

Use a comma after the first independent clause that is before a coordinating conjunction ( and, but, for, or, nor, yet, so ) and then followed by another independent clause.

Example:

Pattern 3: Compound Sentence

Use a semicolon to join two independent clauses that are not joined by coordinating conjunctions: and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet.

Example:

Pattern 4: Compound Sentence

Use semicolon and independent marker/conjunctive adverb with the compound sentence. Examples of independent markers: therefore, finally, consequently, moreover, thus, likewise, consequently, however, also.

Example:

Pattern 5: Complex Sentence

Start the complex sentence with a dependent marker. Examples of dependent markers: because, before, since, while, even though, although, if, unless, until, when, after, as, as if

Example:

Pattern 6: Complex Sentence

The complex sentence end with a fragment clause.

Example:

Pattern 7:

This uses an additional, non-essential clause or phrase after the independent clause. Removing the non-essential clause should not alter the context of the sentence.

These embedded phrases are used to enhance the clause but are not required to make the clause to stand alone.

Example:

Pattern 8:

This uses an additional, essential clause or phrase after the first independent clause. Removing the non-essential clause can alter the context of the sentence.

Example:

A prefix is one or more letters added before a base word to change its meaning. Prefixes have different functions. They may make the word negative (-un, in), by showing repetition (-re), or by showing support (-pro).

Prefixes are mostly used to shorten phrases. For example, if you want to say that someone is “eating too much“, you can simply say that they are “overeating“.

Here is a list of prefixes from a-z and their meaning and examples.

Tips:

When to use hyphens with prefixes:

a. Prefix with a proper noun except for the word “transatlantic“, the only word that does not follow this rule on proper nouns.

b. If the word with the prefix already exists, use a hyphen.

c. all-, ex– (former), and self–

Note:

The prefix “extra” does not need a hyphen if it means “outside of“.

A suffix is one or more letters added at the end of a base word to make a new word.

The new word formed usually becomes a different word class from the original base word. For example, with the use of a suffix, a verb can be changed to an adjective or a noun. Similarly, an adjective or a noun can be changed to an adverb by the use of a suffix.

Common Suffixes in English

Noun Suffixes

Verb Suffixes

Adverb Suffixes

Adjective Suffixes

Tips:

The spelling of the new word may be changed when adding a suffix.

a. For words with only one consonant and a short vowel sound, double the last consonant before the suffix.

b. For words ending in two consonants, the suffix is usually added as is.

c. For words ending in a consonant followed by a ‘y‘, we remove the ‘y‘ and replace it with an ‘i‘ before adding the suffix.

Noun clause is a type of subordinate clause that serves as a noun in a sentence. It is fairly easy to spot them since they usually begin with certain subordinating conjunctions and relative pronouns.

A noun clause has multiple functions too. One of these functions is to act as a subject by constituting the action in a sentence. A noun clause as a subject usually comes immediately before the verb and at the beginning of a sentence.

Structure:

noun clause + verb [+ object/phrase/clause]

Tips:

a. Noun clause as a subject should not be separated from the verb with punctuation.

b. When a noun clause functions as a subject, it always takes a singular verb.

c. That–clause

A noun clause as a subject that starts with “that” is totally acceptable. However, it doesn’t sound natural. In written English, many writers opt for “The fact that”.