Unit 5: Grammar

I. Orientation: Grammar as a System

Grammar is the system of rules that organizes words into meaningful sentences. English depends mainly on word order, auxiliary verbs, tense forms, and grammatical markers to show relationships between ideas.

• Word classes: Each word performs a function, such as naming, describing, modifying, joining, or showing action.
• Sentence structure: A basic clause usually contains a subject and a verb, with objects or complements added when necessary.
• Time and completion: Verb forms indicate when an action happens and whether it is complete, continuing, repeated, or connected with another event.
• Meaning and intention: Modals, conditionals, voice, and reported speech change the speaker’s attitude, focus, certainty, or relationship to an event.
• Accuracy principle: The subject, verb, tense, article, pronoun, and word order must agree with the intended meaning.

II. Word Classes and Word Groups

A. parts of speech

Parts of speech classify words according to their grammatical function in a sentence.

• Noun: Names a person, place, thing, or idea: teacher, Mumbai, book, honesty.
• Pronoun: Replaces a noun: she, them, which, myself.
• Verb: Expresses an action, event, or state: write, happen, seem.
• Adjective: Describes a noun: a difficult examination.
• Adverb: Modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb: speaks clearly, very useful.
• Preposition: Shows relationship: under the table, after lunch.
• Conjunction: Joins words or clauses: and, but, because.
• Interjection: Expresses sudden feeling: Oh!, Excellent!
• Determiner: Introduces or limits a noun: the, some, these, my.

B. compound adjectives

Compound adjectives combine two or more words to describe a noun, often with a hyphen before the noun.

• Common pattern: Adjective + noun + -ed: a blue-eyed child; the noun eye becomes part of the adjective.
• Measurement pattern: Number + singular unit: a five-year-old building, not a five-years-old building.
• Participial pattern: Noun/adjective + present or past participle: a time-consuming task, a well-written report.
• Position rule: Hyphens are especially important before a noun: a high-speed train; after the noun, write the train is high speed when appropriate.
• Meaning distinction: a man-eating shark means a shark that eats people, while a man eating shark describes a man who is eating a shark.

C. verb + infinitives

Many verbs are followed by the infinitive form to + base verb, which often expresses a planned, desired, or intended action.

• Structure: verb + to-infinitive: She decided to leave. The infinitive to leave completes the meaning of decided.
• Purpose: An infinitive can show purpose: He went to the library to study.
• Common verbs: want, hope, plan, agree, refuse, promise, and learn commonly take infinitives.
• Object pattern: Some verbs take an object before the infinitive: The teacher encouraged Ravi to participate.
• Negative form: Place not before the infinitive: They agreed not to complain.

D. noun phrases

A noun phrase is a group of words organized around a main noun, called the head noun.

• Basic structure: Determiner + adjective + noun: the new laboratory; laboratory is the head.
• Expansion before the noun: three highly trained nurses contains a number, adverb, adjective, and noun.
• Expansion after the noun: Prepositional phrases and relative clauses may follow: the book on the desk, the student who won.
• Grammatical function: A noun phrase can be a subject, object, or complement: The young researcher (subject) presented the findings (object).
• Agreement: The head noun controls the verb: The box of files is heavy; box, not files, determines is.

E. articles

Articles identify nouns as specific, general, singular, or plural.

• Definite article: Use the for a specific or already identified noun: I read the article you sent. It can refer to singular, plural, or uncountable nouns.
• Indefinite articles: Use a before a consonant sound and an before a vowel sound: a university, an hour.
• First and later reference: Introduce with a/an, then use the: I saw a dog. The dog was injured.
• Zero article: Use no article for general plural or uncountable ideas: Books are useful; Water is essential.
• Unique references: Use the with unique or superlative references: the sun, the best solution.

III. Verb Forms and Time

A. tenses

Tenses locate actions in time and show whether they are simple, continuous, perfect, or perfect continuous.

• Present simple: Habits and facts: She teaches English; the verb takes -s with he/she/it.
• Present continuous: An action happening now or temporarily: They are preparing a report.
• Past simple: A completed past event: He submitted the form yesterday.
• Present perfect: A past action connected with the present: I have finished the assignment.
• Past perfect: An earlier past action: The meeting had started before we arrived.
• Future forms: will expresses predictions or decisions, while be going to often expresses plans or evidence-based predictions.

B. auxiliary verbs

Auxiliary verbs help form questions, negatives, tenses, emphasis, and passive constructions.

• Primary auxiliaries: be, have, and do support main verbs: is working, has arrived, do understand.
• Questions: Place the auxiliary before the subject: Have they completed it?
• Negatives: Add not: She does not agree; does carries the tense, so the main verb remains agree.
• Emphasis: I do appreciate your help uses do to emphasize the statement.
• Passive formation: Use be + past participle: The letter was delivered; was is the auxiliary.

C. narrative tenses

Narrative tenses organize events in stories by distinguishing background, ongoing actions, completed events, and earlier events.

• Past simple for main events: The bell rang, and the students entered. These events move the narrative forward.
• Past continuous for background: It was raining when the bus arrived. The ongoing situation forms the background.
• Past perfect for earlier events: She had locked the door before she left. The locking happened first.
• Past perfect continuous for duration: He had been waiting for an hour when help came. The activity continued up to a past point.
• Sequence principle: Use past perfect only when the earlier order needs clarification; otherwise, past simple may be sufficient.

D. modals

Modal verbs express ability, permission, obligation, possibility, advice, prediction, or necessity.

• Ability: can describes present ability, while could often describes past ability: She can swim; She could swim at six.
• Permission and requests: May I enter? is formal permission; Could you explain this? is a polite request.
• Obligation: must expresses strong obligation from the speaker; have to often expresses external necessity.
• Advice: should and ought to recommend an action: You should check the figures.
• Possibility: may, might, and could express uncertain possibility: The train might be late.
• Form: A modal is followed by the base verb without to: must leave, not must to leave.

IV. Speech, Voice, and Condition

A. direct and indirect speech

Direct speech gives a speaker’s exact words; indirect speech reports the meaning without quotation marks.

• Direct form: Mira said, “I am tired.” Quotation marks show the original words.
• Indirect form: Mira said that she was tired. The pronoun and tense change to fit the reporting context.
• Reporting verbs: said, told, asked, replied, and explained identify the speech act.
• Time and place changes: today may become that day, and here may become there, depending on context.
• Punctuation: Direct speech uses quotation marks and often a comma; indirect speech uses a normal clause structure.

B. active and passive voice

Voice determines whether the subject performs an action or receives it.

• Active structure: Subject + verb + object: The committee approved the proposal.
• Passive structure: Object + form of be + past participle: The proposal was approved by the committee.
• Agent omission: Omit by + agent when the performer is unknown, obvious, or unimportant: The window was broken.
• Tense preservation: They are repairing the road becomes The road is being repaired; the continuous tense remains.
• Use: Passive voice emphasizes the action or receiver, especially in reports: The samples were tested at 20°C.

C. conditionals

Conditionals connect a condition, usually introduced by if, with its result.

• Zero conditional: General truths use present simple in both clauses: If water reaches 100°C, it boils.
• First conditional: Real future possibilities use present simple after if and will in the result: If it rains, the match will be cancelled.
• Second conditional: Unreal or unlikely present/future situations use past simple plus would: If I had more time, I would travel.
• Third conditional: Unreal past situations use past perfect plus would have + past participle: If she had studied, she would have passed.
• Clause order: A comma usually follows an initial if clause: If you agree, we can begin.

V. Reported Communication

A. direct and indirect speech

Reported communication requires changes in grammar when the reporting verb is in the past.

• Backshift: Present often changes to past: “I work here” becomes He said that he worked there.
• Unchanged facts: A universal truth may remain present: The lecturer said that the earth is round.
• Pronoun adjustment: “I need my file” becomes She said that she needed her file.
• Reporting structure: Use said + clause, but told + object + clause: He said that he was ready; He told me that he was ready.

B. reported statements

Reported statements communicate information rather than the exact wording.

• Positive statement: “I have completed it” becomes She said that she had completed it.
• Negative statement: “I do not know” becomes He said that he did not know.
• Connector: that is common but may be omitted in informal English: She said (that) she was busy.
• Reporting-time reference: tomorrow can become the next day when the reporting situation is later.
• Meaning priority: Preserve the original meaning, especially the speaker, time, place, and degree of certainty.

C. indirect questions

Indirect questions report questions in statement word order and do not use a question mark when embedded in a larger sentence.

• Yes/no questions: Use if or whether: “Are you ready?” becomes She asked whether I was ready.
• Wh-questions: Keep the question word: “Where do they live?” becomes He asked where they lived.
• Word order: Do not use question inversion: She asked where he was, not where was he.
• Auxiliary removal: In What did she say?, did disappears in the indirect form: I asked what she said.

D. commands

Commands are reported by using an object and a to-infinitive.

• Positive command: “Close the door” becomes The teacher told us to close the door.
• Negative command: “Do not touch it” becomes She warned him not to touch it.
• Reporting verbs: tell, order, instruct, and warn show different levels of authority or urgency.
• Object requirement: tell normally needs an object: He told me to wait, not He told to wait.

E. requests

Requests are reported with polite or formal verbs followed by an object and infinitive.

• Ordinary request: “Please help me” becomes She asked me to help her.
• Negative request: “Please do not interrupt” becomes He asked us not to interrupt.
• Formal alternatives: request, beg, and urge express increasing formality or urgency.
• Meaning distinction: ask can report a request or a question; the following structure clarifies the meaning: asked me to leave versus asked whether I was leaving.

VI. Word Formation and Pronouns

A. prefix

A prefix is added to the beginning of a word to change or extend its meaning.

• Negation: un- in unfair, in- in incorrect, and dis- in disagree express opposition or absence.
• Repetition: re- means “again”: rewrite means write again.
• Opposition or reversal: de- may show removal or reversal: deactivate.
• Number or degree: bi- means two in bilingual; over- means excessively in overconfident.
• Spelling caution: The correct prefix depends on the word: impossible, not inpossible, because in- changes to im- before p.

B. suffix

A suffix is added to the end of a word and may change its word class or meaning.

• Noun formation: -ness forms abstract nouns: kind becomes kindness; -tion forms nouns such as inform to information.
• Adjective formation: -ful means full of, as in helpful; -less means without, as in careless.
• Adverb formation: -ly commonly changes an adjective into an adverb: quick becomes quickly.
• Person or occupation: -er can identify a person who performs an action: teach becomes teacher.
• Grammar effect: Suffixes may change sentence function: Her decision was final uses the noun decision, while She decided quickly uses the verb decided.

C. possessive and reflexive pronouns

Possessive pronouns show ownership, while reflexive pronouns refer back to the subject.

• Possessive adjectives: my, your, his, her, its, our, and their come before nouns: This is my notebook.
• Possessive pronouns: mine, yours, his, hers, ours, and theirs stand alone: This notebook is mine.
• Reflexive forms: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, and themselves.
• Reflexive use: The object refers to the subject: Rita introduced herself; Rita performs and receives the action.
• Emphatic use: A reflexive pronoun can emphasize the subject: The director herself signed the letter.