Basic Rules of English Grammar
Subject-Verb agreement
Before going into the details of Subject Verb agreement, we would discuss about "subject" and "verb". Subject is the thing or person that you are talking about and Verb as we all know is the doing word.
Example: John is kicking the ball.
In this particular sentence John is the subject and kicking is the verb. Let me tell you that "is" is also a verb. In grammar it is generally referred to as the modal verb which tells us if John is doing the action in Present, Past or Future. Now we will see where the Subject verb agreement comes into play. When we talk about John we are talking about a single person so the modal verb, which is being used, is for a singular noun and that is "is". Now of instead of John if we had two names or two subjects the verb would change to "are" which is the verb for Plural nouns. So this is the most common example of Subject Verb agreement. The most common mistake of Subject Verb agreement is the use of "has" and "have". "Has" is used in case of singular nouns, third person and "Have" is used in case of Plural Nouns.
Noun: Number
As we discussed Subject Verb Agreement two other concepts that came up were Number of Subjects and Tense of the action done. So let us first discuss Number here. There can be two conditions in case of numbers; either the number of subjects can be one or more than one. In case of one subject, the subject would be called Singular noun and in case of subject being more than one, it would be called Plural noun. As stated earlier with the number the verb would also alter so here is an example.
Singular: Boy
Sentence: The boy walks.
Plural: Boys
Sentence: The boys walk.
Now the obvious difference, apart from the number is the deletion of the "s" from the verb as the subject becomes plural, so that is the case: Whenever the subject is singular and third person the verb would have "s" added to it. In case of modal verbs, the verb would be "has".
Singular
Verb
Plural
Verb
First Person
I
am, have, was
We
are, have, were
Second Person
You
are, have, were
You
are, have, had
Third Person
He, She
has, had
They
have, had
This chart would surely help you to understand the number and the verb concept. Let us now come to the Tenses,
Tenses
Tense implies the time of the action, which can be past, present or future. If there is a timeline wherein 0 where you stand is present, anything that is to the left side of zero is past and anything that is on the right side of 0 on the time is future. If that was difficult, let me put it this way, whatever happens today or right at this moment is present, whatever has happened yesterday or day before is past and whatever will happen tomorrow or day after is future. Here are a few examples that would make things easier to understand.
Past: I kicked the ball
Present: I kick the ball.
Future: I will kick the ball.
Articles
Articles are pointers of nouns being definite or indefinite. "The" is a definite article which is always used when you are referring to a specific noun and most of the times that noun has been mentioned once before. So when it comes to indefinite articles that are "a or an" it refers to any noun in that category. "A" is used when the noun begins with a vowel and "an" is used when a noun begins with a vowel. The following examples would make it much more comprehensible.
John: I saw a monkey yesterday on the parapet.
Smith: Did you? Is it the same monkey, which was on windowsill the other day?
Paul: Ye! Ye! I bought an owl yesterday.
If you are a beginner these are the basic rules of English Grammar, which you have to assimilate before proceeding towards the more complex rules of the language. So all the best and happy learning!!
The Very Funny English Language
1. There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
2. Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend?
3. When the stars are out, they are visible,
When the lights are out, they are invisible.
4. If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught?
5. If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
6. C'mon, let's polish the Polish furniture.
7. The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
8. Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
9. How can 'A Slim Chance' and 'A Fat Chance' be the same?
10. How can 'You're so cool' and 'You're not so hot' be different?
11. Why are 'A Wise man' and 'A Wise guy' opposites?
12. A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
13. The bandage was wound around the wound.
14. I did not object to the object.
15. The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
16. Boxing rings are square.
17. A guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.
18. The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
19. There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple.
20. Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat.
21. The farm was used to produce produce.
22. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France.
23. If brother becomes Brethren, why doesn't mother become Methren?
24. If tooth becomes teeth, why doesn't booth become beeth?
25. If one goose becomes two geese, why doesn't one moose becomae two meese?
26. If I speak of a foot and you show me your feet,
And I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?
27. How come Writers write but Fingers don't fing?
And Grocers don't groce and Hammers don't ham?
28. A hat in the plural doesn't become hose.
And a cat in the plural doesn't become cose.
29. A box in the plural becomes is boxes.
But an Ox in the plural never becomes oxes. (It becomes Oxen).
30. A lone mouse can transform into a whole set of mice,
But it's impossible for a single house to become a whole block of hice. (It becomes houses).
31. Although the masculine pronouns are he, his and him, we must be grateful for small mercies of the language that the feminine pronouns after 'She' don't become 'Shis' and 'Shim'.
32. If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?
33. A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
34. How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?
35. He could lead if he could only get the lead out.
36. They were too close to the door to close it.
37. I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
38. When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
39. You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language
in which your house can burn up as it burns down,
in which you fill in a form by filling it out
and in which an alarm goes off by going on.
40. It is only in the English language that people recite at a play and play at a recital.
41. No sooner had my eye fallen upon the tear in the painting, then this eye of mine began to shed many a tear.
42. I was given a number of injections to make the pain number.
43. It's not ridiculous, but entirely sensible to ship by truck and send cargo by ship.
44. We are a strange lot to have noses that run and feet that smell.
45. The buck does funny things when the does are present.
46. I was proven right that I had the right of way.
47. How come you never hear of a combobulated, gruntled, ruly, or peccable person?
48. Why is it that whether you sit down or sit up, the results are the same?
49. Shouldn't there be a shorter word for "monosyllable"?
50. If you take an Oriental person and spin him around several times, does he become disoriented?
51. If people from Poland are called "Poles," why aren't people from Holland called "Holes?
52. If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, doesn't it follow that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted, cowboys deranged, models deposed, tree surgeons debarked, and dry cleaners depressed?
53. The human race has been running for a great many centuries now - but we're not tired yet.
54. "I am" is reportedly the shortest sentence in the English language. Could it be that "I do" is the longest sentence?
55. The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.