Basic Grammar Rules Cheat Sheet
English grammar is not a mystery; it’s a set of traditions and patterns of language handed down through the ages. With a little practice, you can learn the rules of Standard English so you can express yourself confidently and correctly.
Sorting Pronouns
Pronouns are handy words that take the place of the names of people, places, and things. Be sure to give every pronoun a proper job. Here is what you need to know about pronouns:
Singular subject pronouns (when one person or thing does the action or exists in the state of being): I, you, he, she, it, who, whoever.
Plural subject pronouns (when more than one person or thing does the action or exists in the state of being): we, you, they, who, whoever.
Singular object pronouns (one person or thing receiving the action): me, you, him, her, it, whom, whomever.
Plural object pronouns (more than one person or thing receiving the action): us, you, them, whom, whomever.
Singular possessive pronouns (showing ownership by one person or thing): my, mine, your, yours, his, her, hers, its, whose.
Plural possessive pronouns (showing ownership by more than one person or thing): our, ours, your, yours, their, theirs, whose.
Basic Grammar Rules Cheat Sheet Pdf
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Dealing with Verb Tenses
In English grammar, verbs change in form to tell the time period, or tense. You use different verbs to indicate whether an action has already happened, is currently happening, will happen in the future, and several different variations. Remember these tenses:
Present: happening at the current time (I talk, he talks, they talk)
Present progressive: in the process of happening (I am talking, he is talking, they are talking)
Past: happened before now (I talked, he talked, they talked)
Past progressive: happened over a period of time before now (I was talking, he was talking, they were talking)
Future: will happen after the present time (I will talk, he will talk, they will talk)
Future progressive: will happen over a period of time, after the present time (I will be talking, he will be talking, they will be talking)
Present perfect: started in the past and continues in the present (I have talked, he has talked, they have talked)
Past perfect: happened in the past before another event in the past (I had talked, he had talked, they had talked)
Future perfect: will happen in the future before a deadline (I will have talked, he will have talked, they will have talked)
Elements of a Complete English Sentence
To write a complete sentence, applying proper rule of English grammar, you must use several different items. Make sure that your sentences have all of these elements:
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Subject–verb pair: The verb is a “doing’ or a “being’ word. Someone or something has to do the action or exist in the state of being. That is the subject. Every complete sentences needs at least one subject–verb pair.
End punctuation: Every sentence ends with a punctuation mark. A statement ends with a full stop, a question with a question mark, and a strong statement with an exclamation mark.
Complete thought: The sentence must include one complete idea.
When to Use Capital Letters
In English grammar, you need to know when to capitalise words. Sometimes the capital letter signifies the part of a sentence or simply indicates someone’s name (proper nouns). Use capital letters for the following:
Specific names: Capital letters are used for the names of people, places, and brands. (Bill, Mrs. Jones, River Dee, Burberry). Lowercase letters are for general names (girls, mountains, clothing).
First word: The first word in a sentence, a title, or a subtitle is always capitalised.
Personal pronoun: The pronoun I, referring to the speaker or writer, should be capitalised.
Titles of full-length literary works: The first word in the title of a book, play, newspaper, or magazine, plus all the important words, should be capitalised. (God Save the Queen, The Times, A Tale of Two Cities). If you have a subtitle, capitalise only the first word, specific names, and the personal pronoun I.
Titles of songs, poems, and articles: Capitalise the first word, proper names, and the personal pronoun I.
Titles for people: When a title comes before a name, capitalise it (Reverend Ames). After the name, capitalise titles only when they refer to very important positions (Prime Minister, Secretary General of the United Nations).
Whether you’re engaging in everyday speech or writing the perfect paper, you need to be familiar with the various parts of English grammar. Knowing how to correctly use nouns, verbs, adjectives, pronouns, prepositions, and punctuation as well as how to properly structure a sentence can make or break a good grade or a professional presentation.
Parts of Speech in English Grammar
Every time you write or speak, you use nouns, verbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and other parts of the English language. Knowing how to use these parts of speech can help you speak more eloquently, write more clearly, and feel more confident when communicating with others.
Noun: names a person, place, thing, idea (Lulu, jail, cantaloupe, loyalty, and so on)
Pronoun: takes the place of a noun (he, who, I, what, and so on)
Verb: expresses action or being (scrambled, was, should win, and so on)
Adjective: describes a noun or pronoun (messy, strange, alien, and so on)
Adverb: describes a verb, adjective, or other adverb (willingly, woefully, very, and so on)
Preposition: relates a noun or a pronoun to another word in the sentence (by, for, from, and so on)
Conjunction: ties two words or groups of words together (and, after, although, and so on)
Interjection: expresses strong emotion (yikes! wow! ouch! and so on)
English Grammar Basics: Parts of a Sentence
After you get a good grip on the different parts of speech, it’s time to put them all together to form the proper sentence. The right words and punctuation in the right order can make all the difference in good communication. Keep in mind that you need a minimum number of parts to make a complete sentence: subject/predicate/endmark.
Verb (also called the predicate): expresses the action or state of being
Subject: the person or thing being talked about
Complement: a word or group of words that completes the meaning of the subject-verb pair
Types of complements: direct and indirect objects, subject complement, objective complement
Pronoun Tips for Proper English Grammar
The Beatles sang of “I, Me, Mine,” but understanding pronouns takes a little practice. Pronouns can be objective or subjective, and can show possession. You, me, him, her, them, us . . . everyone can speak and write more clearly by understanding pronouns.
Pronouns that may be used only as subjects or subject complements: I, he, she, we, they, who, whoever.
Pronouns that may be used only as objects or objective complements: me, him, her, us, them, whom, whomever.
Common pronouns that may be used as either subjects or objects: you, it, everyone, anyone, no one, someone, mine, ours, yours, theirs, either, neither, each, everybody, anybody, nobody, somebody, everything, anything, nothing, something, any, none, some, which, what, that.
Pronouns that show possession: my, mine, your, yours, his, her, hers, its, our, ours, their, theirs, whose.
English Grammar Tips for Subject-Verb Agreement
Someone or something must be present in a sentence, and that someone or something doing the action or being talked about is the subject. Verbs are the words that express the action the subject is doing or the state of being the subject is in. Subjects and verbs must agree if you’re going to get your point across as clearly as possible. Otherwise, you end up with an incomplete sentence or a sentence that makes no sense.
Match singular subjects with singular verbs, plural subjects with plural verbs (I run, she runs, they run).
Amounts of time and money are usually singular (ten dollars is).
Either/or and neither/nor: Match the verb to the closest subject (neither the boys nor the girl is).
Either and neither, without their partners or and nor, always take a singular verb (either of the apples is).
All subjects preceded by each and every take a singular verb (each CD is mine; every one of the cheeses is different).
Both, few, several, and many are always plural (both/many are qualified; few want the job; several were hired).
Placing Proper Punctuation
Can you imagine what a sentence without any punctuation would be like? Without proper punctuation, it would be unreadable. Knowing when and how to use the period, comma, colon, semicolon, and other punctuation marks will make your writing smoother and more understandable.
Endmarks: All sentences need an endmark: a period, question mark, exclamation point, or ellipsis. Never put two endmarks at the end of the same sentence.
Apostrophes: For singular ownership, generally add’s; for plural ownership, generally add s’.
Commas: In direct address, use commas to separate the name from the rest of the sentence. In lists, place commas between items in a list, but not before the first item. Before conjunctions, when combining two complete sentences with a conjunction, place a comma before the conjunction. If you have one subject and two verbs, don’t put a comma before the conjunction.
Hyphens: If two words create a single description, put a hyphen between them if the description comes before the word that it’s describing. Don’t hyphenate two-word descriptions if the first word ends in -ly.
Colon: Use a colon after an independent clause that precedes a list and to separate an explanation, rule, or example from a preceding independent clause.
Semicolon: Use a semicolon to join independent clauses in compound sentences that do not have coordinating conjunctions (and, or, but, nor, for, so, yet) and commas as connectors. Words like however, moreover, thus, and therefore, are often used as connectors in these sentences. You can also use semicolons to separate long or complicated items in a series that already includes commas, and to separate two long or complex independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction if confusion would result from using a comma.
Verb Tense Tips in English Grammar
Besides showing the action or state of being in the sentence, the verb also indicates the time the action or “being” took place. By learning about the different kinds of simple, perfect, past, and present tenses, your speaking and writing will be clear and concise.
Simple present tense: tells what is happening now
Simple past tense: tells what happened before now
Simple future: talks about what has not happened yet
Present perfect tense: expresses an action or state of being in the present that has some connection with the past
Past perfect tense: places an event before another event in the past
Future perfect tense: talks about something that has not happened yet in relation to another event in the future