English grammar facts for kids

English grammar is all about the rules for speaking and writing the English language. Think of grammar as the instruction manual for a language. It tells us how to put words together so they make sense.

English grammar started a long time ago with Old English. This was a language similar to German. After the Norman French took over England in 1066, they brought many words and ideas from Latin into English. This mix helped shape the English we use today.

Different Ways of Speaking English

English is spoken all over the world, and it has many different ways of speaking, called dialects. These dialects can have different pronunciations and even different grammar rules.

For example, someone speaking General American English or BBC English might say, "I didn't do anything." But a person speaking African-American Vernacular English might say, "I didn't do nothing." In London, some working-class people might say, "I ain't done nuffink!" The dialect a person uses often depends on where they live.

Even with these differences, all English dialects follow their own grammar rules. When you learn "proper English" for writing, especially in schools, you usually learn the rules of General American English or standard British English.

How Word Endings Change

English doesn't change its word endings very much compared to some other languages. These small changes are called suffixes. The most common ones are for making words plural (like cats to cats') or showing possession (like Johns book).

For verbs, English usually drops most endings. For example, we say "I love," "you love," "they love." But for "she," we add an "s": she loves. This "s" is a small piece left over from Old English, which had many more endings. Verbs also change endings to show when something happened, like walked (past tense) or walking (happening now).

Word Order Matters

The order of words is very important in English. In English, adjectives usually come before the noun they describe. For example, we say "I like fast cars."

Many other languages, like Spanish, put adjectives after the noun. In Spanish, it's "Me gustan los coches rápidos." If you translated just the words, it would be like saying "to me they please the cars fast." This shows how different languages have different rules for word order.

In English, we usually put the main verb between the subject (who or what is doing the action) and the object (who or what the action is done to). For example: "The cat sat on the mat." (Subject: cat, Verb: sat, Object: mat).

Building Blocks of Language: Parts of Speech

Grammar also helps us understand the different types of words we use. These types are called "parts of speech." The main parts of speech are nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections.

Nouns

Nouns are words for things. They can be a single thing, like an apple, or many things, like a box of apples. A special kind of noun is a proper noun, which is a specific name, like Johnny Appleseed or London. Proper nouns always start with a capital letter.

Pronouns

Pronouns are special words that take the place of nouns. They don't name a specific thing, but they can refer to many different things. For example, the word "it." In the sentence "I like the ball; it is blue," "it" refers to the ball. The noun that a pronoun refers to is called its antecedent. Other pronouns include "he," "she," "they," and "we."

Verbs

Verbs are action words or words that show a state of being. The basic form of a verb is called the infinitive, like "to run" or "to be." A famous example is from Hamlet: "To be or not to be?"

Verbs change their form to show when an action happens. This is called tense.

• Past tense: was (e.g., "He was happy.")
• Present tense: is (e.g., "She is happy.")
• Future tense: will be (e.g., "They will be happy.")

Adjectives

Adjectives are words that describe or tell you more about nouns. When you use an adjective, you learn more details about the noun. For example, in the phrase "the red apple is juicy," "red" and "juicy" are adjectives. They tell us about the apple. Adjectives in English don't change their endings, even if the noun they describe is plural. So, you say "the red apples are juicy."

Adverbs

Adverbs are words that describe verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. They tell you how, when, where, or to what extent something happens.

• Describing a verb: "He ran quickly." ("quickly" tells how he ran).
• Describing an adjective: "The boy is very sick." ("very" tells how sick the boy is).
• Describing another adverb: "He ran very quickly." ("very" tells how quickly he ran).

Prepositions

A preposition is a word that shows how one noun (or pronoun) relates to another part of the sentence. Prepositions usually come before the noun they are connected to, which is called the object of the preposition. For example, in the sentence "He walked over the bridge," "over" is the preposition. Other common prepositions include "in," "on," "under," and "with."

Conjunctions

A conjunction is a word that connects other parts of a sentence. It can join two words that do the same thing, like "and" in "The boy and the girl run." Here, "and" connects "boy" and "girl" because both are running. Conjunctions can also connect two complete ideas (called clauses) that could be separate sentences. For example, "but" in "I like cats, but he likes dogs" connects two different ideas.

Interjections

Interjections are words that don't always fit neatly into normal grammar rules. They often show strong feelings or emotions. An interjection can even act like a whole sentence by itself. For example, "Hooray!" shows happiness. They can also be used to shorten common phrases, like saying "Yes" instead of "What you say is true." Interjections like "um" or "uh" might not have a clear meaning but are used in speech.

How Words Work Together: Syntax

Grammar also looks at how all these different parts of language work together to form bigger ideas. This is called "syntax." Syntax helps us understand how words combine to make sentences, phrases, clauses, and paragraphs that make sense. It's like the blueprint for building clear and complete thoughts.

See also

In Spanish: Gramática del inglés para niños