English Grammar

If English is your second language, let us begin by congratulating you for doing such a great job so far. After all, you’re reading this article, so you’ve already come a long way! The fact that you’re reading this article also tells us that you are interested in making sure that, as you learn this language, you are following the rules of English grammar. For that, you are to be commended. Luckily for you, we have some good news for you right off the bat. Mastering these skills isn’t nearly as difficult in English as it is in several other languages.

One of the first things you should know is that three of the most important components of English grammar are subjects, verbs, and objects. This is something that English has in common with a lot of other languages. In order to help you understand what subjects, verbs, and objects are, we would like to provide you with one simple example. Consider the sentence, “I ate chicken.” In that sentence:

• “I” is the subject.
• “Ate” is the verb.
• “Chicken” is the object.

Each of these is required in order to form a complete idea, also known as a sentence. The subject is the cause of the action, the verb represents the action itself, and the object is the thing the action is being done to.

Let’s talk a little about verb tense. As we learned a moment ago, verbs represent actions that are being performed. That action could have been performed in the past. That action could be currently underway. Alternatively, it could be that the action is going to be performed in the future. In English grammar, the timing of the action being performed will determine what is known as a verb’s “tense.” If the action is being performed:

• In the past, the verb is “past tense.” For example, “I ran yesterday.”
• In the present, the verb is “present tense.” For example, “I am running today.”
• In the future, the verb is “future tense.” For example, “I will be running tomorrow.”

Of course, we’ve barely scratched the surface of all of the rules of English grammar. In addition to subjects, verbs, and objects, there are also parts of speech that modify these, such as adjectives and adverbs. However, an exhaustive exploration of these rules is beyond the scope of this article. The structure of basic sentences is what you should be focused on as a beginner.