Synoptic Outline of Basic English Grammar
I. The Parts of Speech
A. Noun (the name of a person, place or thing)
1. Qualities
a) Number (singular, plural)
b) Gender (masculine, feminine, common, neuter)
c) Case (subjective / objective, possessive)
d) Numerability (countable, uncountable)
2. Types
a) Proper / Common (Proper nouns belong to a certain specific person place or thing. Common nouns name things
which are more than one in number.)
b) Collective Nouns (Name a grroup as one thing.) {class, flock}
c) Mass Nouns (Name a quantity of material.) {water, wood}
d) Abstract Nouns (name an abstraction) {freedom, love, blueness, difficulty}
B. Pronoun (a word standing for a noun)
1. Qualities
a) Number (singular, plural)
b) Gender (masculine, feminine, common, neuter)
c) Person (first, second, third)
d) Case (subjective, objective, possessive)
2. Types
a) Personal Pronouns {I, you, he, she, it, one, we, they, me, him, her, us, them}
b) Possessive Pronouns {mine, yours, his, hers, its, one’s, ours, theirs}
c) Demonstrative Pronouns {this, that, these, those}
d) Interrogative Pronouns {who?, whom?, what?, which?}
e) Relative Pronouns {who, whom, which, that}
f) “Quantitative” Pronouns {few, one, some, any, none, all, each}
C. Verb (a word denoting action or state)
1. Qualities
a) Tense
(1) “Aspects”: (simple, continuous, perfect)
(2) “Times” (past, present, future)
(3) Special Forms: be going to, used to
b)
c)
d)
e)
Number (singular, plural)
Person (first, second, third)
Voice (active, passive)
Mood
(1) Indicative {He speak s English.}
(2) Interrogative {Does he speak English?}
(3) Infinitive {to speak English}
(4) Imperative {Speak English.}
(5) Subjunctive {If he spok e English...; Long live the Queen! The judge demanded he speak English.}
f) Transitivity
(1)
Intransitive
(a) Copular (= Copulative) {be, become}
(b) Other {occur, happen, scintillate}
(2) Transitive (may or may not have an expressed object) {eat, understand, speak, forget}
(a) One-place Predicate Verbs (May have 1 object only.) (explain, delight)
(b) Two-place Predicate Verbs (May have 2 objects.) (give, prefer)
(3) Obligatory Transitive (must always have an expressed object) {want, prefer, like, need, inform}
2. Forms
a) Verb Forms Proper
(1) Base Form (= dictionary form, bare infinitive, first principal part){be, have, eat}
(2) Infinitive {to be, to have, to eat }
(3) Finite forms {is, am, are, was, were; have, has, had; eat, eats, ate}
b) Verbals (no longer, strictly speaking, verbs)
(1) Participles (verbal adjectives)
(a) Present Active {being, having, eating}
(b) Past Passsive {been, had, eaten}
(2) Gerunds (verbal nouns) {being, having, eating}
D. Adjective (a word modifying a nominal)
1. Positions
a) attributive (immediately before or after the noun) {a big dog, the issue discussed}
b) predicative (in predicate, but referring to the subject) {The dog is big.}
2. Types
a) Adjectives of Quantity and Distribution {many, much, few, some, any, no, all, each, every}
b) Adjectives of Quality {big, blue, delicious, soft, difficult}
c) Personal Possessive Adjectives {my, your, his, her, its, one’s, our, their}
d) Relative Possessive Adjective {whose}
E. Adverb ( a word modifying a verb, adjective or other adverb)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Adverbs of Manner {quickly, well}
Adverbs of Intensity {very, quite, extremely, hardly, somewhat, }
Adverbs of Frequency {often, never, always, rarely, sometimes, }
Adverbs of Iteration {once, twice, thrice}
Relative Adverbs {as, where, when, why}
Interrogarive Adverbs {how?, where?, when?}
F. Conjunction (a word uniting two sentence elements)
1. Coördinating Conjunctions (join 2 independent clauses) {and, but, or}
2. Subordinating Conjunctions (join a dependent clase with an independent clause) {because, if, when, while, before,
after, since}
G. Preposition (a word showing a relationship of one word to another) {of, in, for, with, by, under, over, to,
from, between}
H. Interjection (a word expressing emotion without grammatical connection) {Oh!, Fie!, Alas!, Yay!,
Whoops!}
I. Articles (definite and Indefinite) {a, an, the (,some)}
II. The Parts of the Sentence
A. Sentence Element Types
1. Nominals (act like nouns)
a) Nouns {The man is mysterious.}
b) Pronouns {He is mysterious.}
c) Nominal Clauses {That he is absent is mysterious.}
d) Embedded Questions (Why he is absent is mysterious.}
e) Infinitives {For him to be absent is mysterious.)
(1) Infinitives (“to” plus verb in base form)
(2) Infinitive Phrases (“to” plus verb in vase form plus objects, modifiers, etc.)
f) Gerundials (His being absent is mysterious.}
(1) Gerunds (1 verbal noun ending in “-ing”)
(2) Gerundial Phrases (gerund plus objects, modifiers, etc.)
2. Adjectivals (act like adjectives)
a) Adjectives {big, blue, soft, intelligent}
b) Prepositional Phrases {The man with the briefcase.}
c) Present Active Participials {The standing man is my uncle.)
d) Past Passive Participials {The murdered man was my uncle.}
3. Adverbials (act like adverbs)
a) Adverbs {quickly, very)
b) Prepositional Phrases {The man walking with great speed.}
B. Primary Divisions of the Sentence
1. Subject (always a nominal)
2. Predicate (the verb plus its objects or predicate nominative and modifiers)
C. Sentence Constituents
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Subject [simple (1 nominal) or compound (2 or more nominals)]
Verb [simple (1 word) or compound (2 or more words)]
Direct Object (a nominal with a relation to the verb)
Indirect Object (a nominal with a relation to the verb, usually having the meaning of “to” or “for” the nominal)
Object of the Preposition (a nominal – never an infinitive – governed by a preposition)
Predicate Nominative {The dog is an animal} (The dog is equal to an animal, does not do something to an
animal.)
7. Modifiers (adjectivals and adverbials)
© 2006 Bradius V. Maurus III