Foreword

WHY ENGLISH GRAMMAR MATTERS

By Joseph Devlin, M.A.

To write correctly and effectively, the fundamental principles of English grammar must be mastered. No matter how badly you want to write, no matter how deep your feelings, and no matter how exciting the ideas you want to share with others, if you don’t know the basic rules of how to correctly form sentences and the relation of words to one another, your writing will lack coherency. Imagine for a moment a novel with a sensational idea, unforgettable characters, set in an exotic place, and chock full of suspense—no matter how great the idea might be, if the story is penned by a writer who lacks a basic grasp of the English language, the result will be poorly written.

Learning how to write correctly should be an easy challenge considering that the average person’s vocabulary consists of a mere 2,000 words. Knowing the definitions of those words and knowing how to put them together in a sentence won't make you a master of the English language, but it will make you a competent writer, and most people who read what you write will understand it. You might think 2,000 words is a small number, considering how many thousands of words are in the dictionary. But nobody ever uses all the words in the dictionary, and there is really no need to use them. If no one understands the words you use in your writing, you will have no audience; and if you have no readers, you will have no reason to write.

The English language contains at least 250,000 distinct words. Knowing just one percent of these words will suffice for nearly every writing endeavor you might wish to undertake. Shakespeare's classic works contain 15,000 different words, but more than 10,000 are obsolete today. Of course, you might want to expand your vocabulary and use interesting words for the sake of variety or to impress your reader; or maybe a common word just doesn’t have the right ring to it. Maybe you don't want to refer to a spade as simply a spade–you'd rather call it a spatulous device for abrading the surface of the soil. The problem is, most of your readers won’t have any idea what you are talking about. So, it’s better to stick with familiar words that are widely used and understood. Proper grammatical structure of the several thousand English words you will likely use can be learned with relative ease.

Rules of grammar are necessary and should be followed so that you can express thoughts and ideas in a clear and effective manner. Written correctly, your words will convey a definite meaning and have impact on your readers. But hard and fast rules cannot make a writer. If you have no ideas to put into words, no thought can be expressed, and no writing can take place. You must have distinct thoughts and ideas before you can express them in written form.

The best way to learn to write is to sit down and write, just as the best way to learn to ride a bicycle is to mount the wheel and work the pedals. Write first about common things and familiar subjects. Familiar themes are always the best for the beginner. Don’t attempt to describe a scene in Australia if you have never been there and know nothing of the country. Never struggle to find subjects—thousands exist around you. Describe what you saw yesterday: a fire, a crowded store, a fight on the street, an exquisite sunset, and be original in your description. Imitate the best writers in their style, but not in their exact words. Get off the beaten path and make a pathway of your own.

The Nine Parts of Speech

To grasp the basic rules of grammar and the proper placement of words in sentences, it’s important to know that all words in the English language fall into nine categories, called “the parts of speech.” They are: noun, article, pronoun, adjective, verb, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection.

The noun is the most important of the nine parts of speech, as all the rest are more or less dependent upon it. A noun refers to the name of any person, place, or thing, which includes tangible objects and abstract concepts. Nouns fall into two categories: proper and common. Proper nouns are formal names, as the names of people (John, Mary, Bob); places (London, Paris, Seattle); and countries (Canada, England). Common nouns refer to everything else in more general terms (man, city, nation).

An article is a word placed before a noun to show whether the noun is used in a particular or general sense. English has two articles: a (or an) and the. The former is called the “indefinite” article because it does not refer to a particular person or thing but indicates the noun in its most general sense; for instance, a man can mean any man on the planet. The latter is called the “definite” article because it refers to a specific person or thing; thus, the man means a specific individual.

An adjective is a word that qualifies a noun, meaning it shows or points out some distinguishing mark or feature of the noun. For example: a black dog, a pretty woman, a cold wind.

A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun so that you don't have to repeat the same noun too often and fall into tedious repetition. Consider the following sentence:

☺ John gave his pen to James, and then he lent it to Jane to write her copy with it.

Without pronouns, we would have to write this sentence as:

✘ John gave John's pen to James, and then James lent the pen to Jane to write Jane's copy with the pen.

Pronouns fall into two categories: singular and plural. The singular pronouns are: I, me, my, mine; you, your, yours; he, him, his; she, her, hers; and it, its; and the plural are: we, us, our, ours; you, your, yours; and they, them, their, theirs.

A verb is a word that signifies action or the doing of something; or it may be a word that affirms, commands, or asks a question. The phrase John the table contains no assertion and thus no verb. But when the word strikes is introduced, something is affirmed–strikes is a verb and completes the thought, giving meaning to the group.

An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. In the following examples, the adverbs are underlined. In the first example, the adverb shows the manner in which the writing is done. In the second, the adverb modifies the adjective diligent. In the third, the adverb modifies the adjective beautiful.

He writes well.

He is remarkably diligent.

She is very beautiful

Note that adverbs are mainly used to express in one word what would otherwise require two or more words.

A preposition connects words, clauses, and sentences together and shows the relation between them, as:

My hand is on the table.

This sentence shows relation between hand and table, and the preposition on connects the two words. Prepositions are usually placed before the words whose connection or relation with other words they point out.

A conjunction is a word that joins words, phrases, clauses, and sentences together. For instance, the conjunctions are underlined in these examples:

John and James.

My father and mother arrived, but I did not see them.

I prefer apples or strawberries, and Tyrone prefers oranges.

The most common conjunctions are: and, also; either, or; neither, nor; though, yet; but, however; for, that; because, since; therefore, wherefore, then, and if.

An interjection is a word that expresses surprise, shock, or some other sudden emotion. In the passage below, Ah! expresses surprise, and alas expresses distress.

Ah! There he comes; alas! what shall I do?

Nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs become interjections when they are uttered as one-word exclamations: Fire! Nonsense! Strange! No!

Three Essentials of Effective Writing

The three essentials of effective writing in the English language are: purity, perspicuity, and precision. Purity refers to the use of proper English. It means writing without the use of slang words and expletives (except when writing fiction and then used sparingly or as appropriate for a certain audience), obsolete terms, foreign idioms, ambiguous expressions, and...