Fundamentals

• What is Grammar ?

-> Knowledge of correct reading, writing and speaking is called grammar.

Their are five key principles:-

1. Principles of word order
2. Principles of punctuation
3. Principles of tense and aspect
4. Use of Determiners
5. Use of Connectors

1. Word order

Word order is the most important element of what is known as syntax. English is an "analytic language" ; this means that it does not use a lot of word endings to indicate the relation between words. The relation between words is principally determined by the order in which they are placed. The most fundamental rule is that in a basic declarative statement, the subject comes first; it is followed by the verb, and then by the objects and adverbial phrases, if there are any.

e.g- My friend is reading a good book by George Orwell.

If we change the word order, obviously we change the meanings of the sentences. In these next examples, the change of meaning is extremely obvious.

e.g- My good friend is reading George a book by Orwell.

These examples in which the original word order has been changed are still completely grammatical, and use identical words. They also still have meaning and are still logical sentences. So the fact that they are still grammatical, logical and unambiguous demonstrates that in these examples, word order is the vital parameter for interpreting the meaning of the sentence.
 Most often, changing the order of words in a sentence will not produce another meaningful statement; it will produce ambiguity or nonsense. Communication is therefore impossible. The following examples,which still use the same words as those above, are unitelligible. We might use the amusing English word "gobbledegook" to describe them ! Not even a computer could determine with certainty what was really meant.

e.g- A good Orwell book is reading by my George friend.

2. Punctuation

Punctuation is another main element of syntax. In written language, punctuation takes the form of a number of "punctuation marks" that are used in many different languages. In written English, the essential marks of punctuation are , . ; : ? ! and "
 In spoken English, punctuation is indicated by the means of pauses, stressed words, and inflexions of the voice (intonation).
In very simple declarative statements, punctuation is not usually essential to the understanding of the statement. But as soon as the statement becomes even a little bit complex, punctuation may be vital. The examples below illustrate this.

1.My brother is called John
2. Let’s eat Grandma !
3. Let’s eat, Grandma !
4. Doctor I have problems with eating sore feet and hair falling out.
5. Doctor I have problems with eating, sore feet, and hair falling out.
6. People, who live in London, are often very stressed.
7. People who live in London are often very stressed.
8. He’s won first prize !
9. He’s won first prize ?

3 Tense and aspect

Tense and aspect are the most import parameters applying to verbs; and verbs are fundamental to all statements. A verb is the only type of word that can stand as a meaningful sentence in its own right (i.e. out of context). For example, you can say "Look ! " out of any context, and people will understand what you mean.
e.g- 1. I am a student at Oxford.
 2. I was a student at Oxford
 3. I will be a student at Oxford.
4. He eats fish and chips !
  5. He’s eating fish and chips !
  6. I saw that film yesterday.
7. I’ve seen that film.

4 Use of determiners

Determiners are used in conjunction with nouns. In English sentences, nouns do not often stand alone; and a noun standing by itself is pretty meaningless.
 To check this for yourself, just say "Car " to someone ! Unless there is a pre-defined context, the word "Car" by itself is almost meaningless (unlike the word "Look !" in section 3 above). It needs to be "determined".
 If you say "Car " to someone out of any context, you will perhaps get the reply. "What car?" or "Which car?"... or even "How many ?". The reply now has meaning, as the word car is defined by an interrogative determiner. You may now reply, using a variety of different determiners or determining phrases, as in these examples :-

1. My car !
 2. That car !
 3. The car over there !
 4. A car with a powerful engine.
 5. Five !

The correct use of determiners is vital for forming meaningful statements or questions. There are several different types of determiner.

5 Use of connectors

Connectors are the vital link words that relate words, phrases or clauses to each other.

MORE TO KNOW:-

A phrase is a unit of words that has no meaning when used out of context, for example the day before or with help from my friends or I really like.
A clause is a unit of words that conveys meaning, because it contains a subject and a predicate. A simple sentence is a clause; a complex sentence will contain more than one clause. Examples: I like apples. or I feel unwell or He drank too much wine.