In order to obtain English fluency for ESL students, studying grammar can slow your progress down significantly.
Basic grammar
is a necessity, but focusing on grammar will prevent you from being
able to speak English fluently in a reasonable time frame. Grammar is
most effective to improve communication and writing skills, but this
only pertains to those who have a solid foundation in English fluency.
If you are studying for an exam or want to learn the details of grammar rules, you can study our grammar section at
English Grammar Basics.
One commonality among everyone in the whole world is that they
learned to speak before they learned grammar. Speaking is the first step
for any English learner. So if you are a novice at English, please
focus on your speaking and listening skills prior to studying grammar.
After being able to speak English fluently, you will realize how much
easier grammar is. But it does not work the other way around. Being
fluent in English speaking will help you with your grammar studies, but
studying grammar will NOT help you with your speaking.
In this article, the four most basic grammar topics are explained,
which consists of 1) subject, 2) predicate, 3) verb, and 4) article.
This is the absolute minimum you should know. After you become
comfortable with speaking, then you can study more advanced grammar
topics. For now, please review and study the four items described
below.
What is a subject?
The subject in a sentence is "who" or "what" you are talking
about. Every sentence needs a subject. If you don't have a subject, then
the sentence is incorrect and nobody will understand what you are
talking about.
In other languages, the subject is not always required. Verbally,
the person listening to you will understand what you are talking about,
so a subject is not required. In English, a subject is always required.
Here are examples of small sentences with the subject underlined.
"
I am hungry"
"
My brother is very smart"
"
That computer is very expensive"
"
We are going to the store now"
"
My sister and I will be waiting here"
"
The building is very big"
"When are
you going to eat lunch?"
"Why are
they waiting in line?"
"Who is going to take
you to the store?"
What is a predicate?
The predicate in a sentence is the section that informs the person
what the subject is or what it is doing. It is a phrase that contains a
verb. The verb is always in the predicate.
Let's look at the sentences we used in the subject lesson to identify the predicates. They will be underlined.
"I
am hungry"
"My brother
is very smart"
"That computer
is very expensive"
"We
are going to the store now"
"The building
is very big"
In the above short sentences, we have identified the subject and
predicate. In the most basic sentences, you need a subject and an action
associated with the subject. Let's go on to verbs to understand this in
more detail.
What is a verb?
A verb is an action, existence, or occurrence. In the simple
sentences we used so far, the verb is mostly in the existence form. They
are "am", "is", and "are".
Other types of verbs are action verbs such as:
Wash
Run
Walk
Throw
Jump
Dance
Laugh
Learn
Teach
There are many action verbs, but I only listed a few to let you
know what I am referring to. Here are some sentences to help you
understand.
"I need to
wash my face"
"Jane
taught Jill"
"Mike is
laughing"
A verb can also start at the beginning of the sentence.
"
Throw the ball at the catcher"
"
Run towards the finish line"
It is important to understand the verb, but having just a subject
and a verb is not sufficient. For example, "Jill run" is not a complete
sentence. Although Jill can be the subject, and "run" is the verb, this
is not a complete sentence. That is why the previous lesson on predicate
is important. With the predicate, we can turn the sentence into a
proper sentence. "Jill is running"
What is an Article?
Articles seem so easy, but it is extremely difficult to teach.
"A", "An", and "The" are all articles. It is easy to explain the
difference between them, but it is difficult to explain when they are
used.
"A" and "An" have the same meaning. They are both indefinite
articles. They are only different depending on what word or sound is
following. Here is a brief explanation.
You should use "A" when the following word starts with a consonant.
"A dog..."
"A boy..."
"A building..."
"A hamburger..."
You should use "An" when the following starts with a vowel sound.
"An eagle..."
"An umbrella..."
"An elephant..."
"An awesome book..."
"The" is a definite article. The difference is if the noun or
subject you are talking about is specific or not. Examples are the best
way to understand the difference, so let's take a look.
If you say, "I am going to a library to study", then the person
you are speaking with does not know which library. If you say, "I am
going to the library to study", then the person you are speaking with
knows the specific library you are going to.
"I am going to a coffee shop" (No specific coffee shop)
"I am going to the coffee shop" (A specific coffee shop both the speaker and listener know)
Here is a slightly different example, but still using the same concept of specific or general.
"I am going to sit in front of one of the computers in the lab"
"I am going to buy a computer"
Although the computer in the lab can be one of many computers, the
correct article is "the" because it is still a specific computer that
exists in the lab. However, if you say you are going to buy a computer,
you cannot use "the" unless you already have the computer specified.
Buying a computer can be any brand, type, or size so it is very general.
Therefore, you must use "A" in this type of sentence.
Here is another type of example:
"The heat wave is unbearable"
"I heard a heat wave is coming"
The difference between these two sentences is that the "heat wave"
is specified in the first sentence, and not specified in the second
sentence. In the first sentence, the heat wave is already present and
both the speaker and listener knows that the heat wave they are talking
about is the one they are currently experiencing. The second sentence is
referring to a future heat wave that is not specific.
When and When NOT to use an article
One common rule to keep in mind is that articles are not used when referring to a name.
"Turn right at the burger store"
"Turn right at McDonalds"
"The boy was running very fast"
"Mike was running very fast"
Another example of when not to use an article is when referring to general things in conversation.
"Too much alcohol is bad for you"
"Cigarettes can cause lung cancer"
When you are referring to sports, you do not need an article.
"I love playing badminton"
"Football is a dangerous sport"
In most cases, you don't need an article when referring to a
country except when the name is referring to multiple countries or
regions. For example, if you say "England" or "Scotland", you don't need
an article, but if you are referring to "The United Kingdom" or "The
United States", then you do need an article.