Preamble

Grammar is the practical knowledge of the craft employed by skilled writers and thinkers in the English tongue. It is the art of deconstructing their work to understand its power, and the science of using that understanding to build one's own power for clear and effective prose (or poetry).

Grammar has six parts, which guide the student from basic perception to sophisticated judgment:

• First, Reading for Effect: To learn how the structure of a sentence creates a specific impact. One does not simply read the words of a sentence like, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."; one must also perceive how the balanced rhythm and direct repetition create a feeling of grand and sweeping contradiction.
• Second, Identifying the Author's Craft: To recognize the specific devices used to achieve clarity and persuasion. In a phrase like, "Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country," the student learns to identify the parallel structure and the antithesis that give the command its memorable power.
• Third, Mastering Vocabulary and Context: To understand that words have precise meanings and that every text is a product of its time. One must learn that a word like "awful" once meant "full of awe," and that to read a document from 1776 requires an understanding of the world of 1776.
• Fourth, Discovering Word Histories: To trace the origins of words (etymology) and uncover their deeper layers of meaning. To know that "manufacture" comes from the Latin for "made by hand" is to understand the history of industry and the irony of the word's modern usage.
• Fifth, Analyzing Stylistic Patterns: To recognize that every author has a unique grammatical fingerprint. The student learns to contrast the short, declarative sentences of a writer like Hemingway with the long, winding clauses of a writer like Faulkner, and to understand that these are not arbitrary choices, but deliberate patterns designed to control the flow of thought and time.
• Sixth, the Critical Judgment of Texts: To form an intelligent and defensible opinion on the quality of any piece of writing. This is the noblest part of the art. The student learns to judge a legal document for its clarity, a poem for its beauty, a scientific paper for its precision, and a political speech for its persuasive force.

The Word

The word is the smallest part of a sentence that carries meaning. The word is the atom of language, from which all speech and writing is constructed.

The Sentence

A sentence is a sequence of words arranged to express a complete thought.

The words that make up a sentence are divided into eight classes, which are called the Parts of Speech. These are: the Noun, the Pronoun, the Verb, the Adjective, the Adverb, the Preposition, the Conjunction, and the Interjection.

Every word belongs to one of these classes, according to the function it serves in the sentence. To know the parts of speech is to begin to understand the architecture of language.

The Composition

A composition is a whole built from smaller, coherent parts, each containing a certain subject. We call these parts Chapters in a novel, Acts in a play, or Stanzas in a poem.

One must learn to recognize these divisions, for they are the pillars upon which a great work is built. A chapter marks a new stage in a journey; an act, a turning point in a drama; a stanza, a new facet of a single idea.

To understand the structure of these parts is to understand the mind of the author at work, arranging the story or argument piece by piece to create a unified and powerful effect.

Reading and Writing

Reading is the art of correctly interpreting the voice of a written work. One must read with attention to tone, to style, and to punctuation. For from the tone, we discern the work's character; from the style, the author's craft; and from the punctuation, the logical flow of thought.

Thus, we should read a legal contract with an eye for literal precision, but a satire with an ear for irony; a scientific paper for its cold objectivity, but a personal letter for its warm subjectivity; a great speech for its rhythmic force, but a quiet poem for its subtle cadence.

For to read without this attention to voice is to remain deaf to the author's art and to render one's own interpretation simplistic and incomplete.

Grammar is the practical knowledge of the craft employed by skilled writers and thinkers in the English tongue. It is the art of deconstructing their work to understand its power, and the science of using that understanding to build one's own clear and effective prose (or poetry).

Nouns and Adjectives

A Noun is a word that names a person, a place, a thing, or an idea. As in: Socrates, Athens, a ship, philosophy.

Three things accompany the Noun: its Type, its Number, and its Form.

The Types are chiefly two: a Common Noun and a Proper Noun. A Common Noun names a general class of thing, such as city, woman, river. A Proper Noun names a particular one, such as London, Helen, the Nile. From these arise other types, such as the Collective Noun, which names a group in the singular, as in a fleet, a crowd, a government.

The Numbers are two: Singular and Plural. The Singular speaks of one; the Plural speaks of more than one. Most nouns are made plural by the addition of s, as ship becomes ships.

The Forms are two: Simple and Compound. A Simple Noun is a single word, such as king. A Compound Noun is made of two or more words joined together, such as kingfisher.

Distinct from the Noun is the Adjective. An Adjective is a word that modifies or describes a Noun, providing its qualities.

An Adjective answers the questions: What kind? How many? Which one? As in: a wise judge, three ships, that idea.

From the Adjective arise the Comparative and the Superlative. The Comparative compares two things, as in, "Socrates is wiser than his accusers." The Superlative compares one thing to all others, as in, "Socrates was the wisest man in Athens."

The Noun names the thing; the Adjective describes it. To understand this partnership is to understand the foundation of all description.

Articles

An Article is a word that introduces and specifies a noun. There are two kinds in English: the Definite and the Indefinite.

The Definite Article is the word the. It points to a specific, particular noun. As in: "The ship sailed," meaning a specific ship known to the reader.

The Indefinite Article is the word a or an. It points to a general, non-specific noun. As in: "A ship sailed," meaning any ship, not a particular one. The form an is used before a word that begins with a vowel sound, as in an apple.

The article, though small, gives the noun its definiteness, telling us whether we speak of a particular thing or a thing in general.

Pronouns

A Pronoun is a word used in place of a noun to avoid repetition.

The principal kind is the Personal Pronoun, which indicates the person speaking (First Person), the person spoken to (Second Person), or the person or thing spoken of (Third Person).

Three things chiefly accompany the Personal Pronoun: its Person, its Number, and its Case.

The Person and Number are shown thus: I (first-person singular), we (first-person plural); you (second-person singular and plural); he, she, it, they, xe, ze, zie, fae, e, ey, ae, per, ve, ne, hu, thon, co, yo, xey, vi, li, ki (third-person singular), and they (third-person plural).

The Case shows the pronoun's function in the sentence. The form of the pronoun changes depending on whether it is the subject (I see the ship), the object (*The ship sees me), or shows possession (That is my ship).

To master the pronoun is to give speech its grace and swiftness, for it allows us to refer to things without endlessly repeating their names.

The pronouns are divided into classes based on their function. The principal classes are the Personal, the Possessive, and the Reflexive.

The Personal Pronoun stands for a person or thing. It has a subject form for when it is the actor (I, he, she, they) and an object form for when it receives the action (me, him, her, them).

The Possessive Pronoun shows ownership. It has a form that acts as an adjective before a noun (my ship, their hope) and a form that can stand alone (the ship is mine, the hope is theirs).

The Reflexive Pronoun is formed with -self or -selves and is used when the subject and the object of a verb are the same person. As in: "The captain blamed himself." It reflects the action back upon the actor.

To know these classes is to use the pronoun with precision, distinguishing among the actor, that which is acted upon, and that which is possessed.

Verbs

A Verb is a word that expresses an action or a state of being. It is the engine of the sentence. As in: The ship sails. The sailor is brave.

Four things chiefly accompany the Verb: its Tense, its Person and Number, its Voice, and its Mood.

The Tense indicates the time of the action: Past, Present, or Future.

The Person and Number show who performs the action. The verb changes its form most often for the third-person singular in the present tense, as in, I walk, you walk, he walks.

The Voice shows whether the subject performs the action or receives it. In the Active Voice, the subject acts: "The sailor guides the ship." In the Passive Voice, the subject is acted upon: "The ship is guided by the sailor."

The Mood indicates the manner of the action. The Indicative Mood states a fact: "He is wise." The Imperative Mood gives a command: "Be wise." The Subjunctive Mood expresses a wish or a hypothetical condition: "I wish that he were wise."

To accomplish these things, the Verb often employs Auxiliary Verbs, which are also called helping verbs. The most common are to be, to have, and to do, along with others such as will, shall, can, may, and must. These helpers combine with the main verb to create nuances of time and meaning, as in I will go, I have gone, I am going.

Verb Classes

Verbs are divided into classes based on how they change their form to show the past tense. These classes are chiefly two: the Regular and the Irregular.

A Regular Verb forms its past tense by the simple addition of -ed. This is the most common class. As in: walk becomes walked; learn becomes learned.

An Irregular Verb forms its past tense in other ways. Some change their vowel, as sing becomes sang. Some change their ending, as send becomes sent. Some change entirely, as go becomes went. And some do not change at all, as cut remains cut.

To know whether a verb is regular or irregular is to know how it marks the passage of time.

Modal Verbs

Among the irregular verbs is a special class called the Modal Auxiliary Verbs. These do not express an action themselves, but rather modify the meaning of the main verb by expressing necessity, possibility, permission, or ability.

The principal modal verbs are: can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, and would.

These verbs are unique in their form. They do not change for person or number, as in, I can, you can, she can. They have no past tense form made by adding -ed, nor do they have an infinitive form with to.

A modal verb is always followed by the base form of another verb, as in: "A wise person can learn." "You should listen." "The ship will sail."

To master the modal verbs is to master the language of nuance and condition.

Participles

A Participle is a form of a verb that is used as an adjective to modify a noun. It partakes of the nature of both a verb and an adjective.

There are two principal kinds: the Present Participle and the Past Participle.

The Present Participle ends in -ing and describes an ongoing action. As in: "The howling wind shook the house." The wind is performing the action of howling.

The Past Participle most often ends in -ed or -en and describes an action that has been completed. As in: "The shaken house stood firm." The house has received the action of being shaken.

By using participles, a writer can weave action and description into a single, elegant fabric.

Adverbs and Interjections

An Adverb is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. It often answers the questions: How? When? Where? or To what extent?

It modifies a verb, as in: "The ship sailed swiftly." It modifies an adjective, as in: "The ship was very swift." It modifies another adverb, as in: "The ship sailed almost too swiftly."

Many adverbs are formed by adding -ly to an adjective, as swift becomes swiftly, but many others are single words, such as here, there, now, then, always, never, more, and less.

Distinct from the Adverb is the Interjection. An Interjection is a word that expresses a sudden burst of emotion, such as joy, sorrow, or surprise. It stands apart from the rest of the sentence, often followed by an exclamation mark.

Common interjections include: Oh!, Ah!, Alas!, and Ouch!

The Adverb describes the action; the Interjection expresses the reaction.

Prepositions

A Preposition is a word that shows the relationship between a noun or pronoun and another word in the sentence. It often indicates location, time, or direction

Common prepositions include: in, on, at, under, over, before, after, with, for, from, and to.

A preposition begins a prepositional phrase, which consists of the preposition itself and the noun that follows it, called the object of the preposition. As in: "The ship sailed to the island." "The book is on the table." "He spoke with great wisdom."

The preposition acts as a bridge, connecting a noun to the rest of the sentence and giving it a precise context in space and time.

Conjunctions

A Conjunction is a word that joins words, phrases, or clauses, showing the logical relationship between them.

There are two principal classes: the Coordinating and the Subordinating.

A Coordinating Conjunction connects two elements of equal grammatical rank. There are seven such conjunctions: For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So. As in: "The wind blew, and the ship sailed." "He was tired, but he stood firm."

A Subordinating Conjunction joins a lesser, dependent clause to a main, independent clause. It shows a relationship of time, cause, or condition. Common subordinating conjunctions include because, since, although, if, when, and while. As in: "Because the wind blew, the ship sailed." "The ship sailed, although the crew was tired."

The conjunction is the sinew of complex thought, binding simple ideas together to form arguments, express conditions, and explain causes. With this, the parts of speech are complete.

Letters and Sounds

The English alphabet has twenty-six letters, from A to Z. But the language has more than forty sounds. Therefore, one must learn to distinguish the written letter from the sound it represents, for the letter is merely the symbol, while the sound is the element itself.

Of these sounds, there are two great families: vowels and consonants.

Vowels are sounds made with an open and unobstructed voice. They are the heart of a syllable. They are chiefly distinguished by their length. A short vowel is a quick, clipped sound, as in the words cat, pet, sit, top, cup. A long vowel is an extended sound, often like the name of the letter itself, as in mate, meet, kite, boat, cute.

Consonants are sounds made by obstructing the flow of air with the lips, teeth, or tongue. They cannot form a syllable without a vowel. They are chiefly distinguished by the presence or absence of voice.

An unvoiced consonant is made with air alone, a whisper. Such are the sounds at the beginning of the words pat, top, cat, fine, and shine.

A voiced consonant is made with the vibration of the vocal cords, a hum. Such are the sounds at the beginning of the words bat, dog, goat, vine, and zoo.

These sounds often come in pairs, where the only difference is the voice: p and b; t and d; k and g. Furthermore, where a single sound has no letter of its own, we join two letters to make a digraph, as in ch, sh, and th.

To understand these elements is to understand not just how the language is written, but how it is truly spoken and heard.

Syllables

A syllable is a single, unbroken sound of a spoken word. It is properly formed by the joining of consonants with a vowel sound, as in the word strength, which has one syllable, or the word con-stant, which has two.

By extension, a single vowel sound may also form a syllable, as with the first letter of the word a-go. Every word has at least one syllable, and every syllable has one vowel sound.

Accents

Accent is the emphasis given to a syllable within a word, which gives the language its rhythm and clarity. One must learn to place the accent correctly, for a shift in stress can alter a word's very nature.

Thus, we stress the first syllable of the word rec-ord when it is a noun, but the second when it is a verb, to re-cord. We say con-duct for a person's behavior, but con-duct for the act of leading. The same letters form a noun or a verb, an object or an action, and the distinction is made by accent alone.

For to neglect the proper placement of accent is to confuse the function of words and to speak with a voice that is flat and indistinct.

Stressed Syllables

The rhythm of the English language is built upon the interplay of stressed and unstressed syllables. A stressed syllable is one that receives greater emphasis in speech.

A syllable may be stressed by its nature or by the demands of poetic meter.

By its nature, a syllable is stressed according to the inherent rhythm of a word. In the word nev-er, the first syllable is stressed; in the word a-gain, the second is stressed. A dictionary provides the proper stress for any word.

In poetry, a syllable that is typically unstressed may receive stress to fit a rhythmic pattern. This is called metrical stress. In the line, "To be, or not to be, that is the question," the word "that," though normally unstressed, receives stress to maintain the iambic rhythm.

To hear the interplay of stressed and unstressed syllables is to understand the heartbeat of the language.

Unstressed Syllables

An unstressed syllable is one that does not receive emphasis in speech. It is the quiet beat that gives rhythm to the stressed syllables.

In the word po-et, the first syllable is stressed, the second is unstressed. In the word a-gree, the first is unstressed, the second is stressed.

The unstressed syllable is often marked by a softening of the vowel sound, a sound called the schwa. It is the sound of the 'a' in about, the 'e' in taken, the 'i' in pencil, the 'o' in eloquent, and the 'u' in supply.

To recognize the unstressed syllable is to hear the subtle valleys that give the stressed syllables their height, and thus to fully understand the landscape of the language.

Punctuation

There are three principal marks of punctuation: the Period, the Semicolon, and the Comma.

The Period is the sign of a thought brought to its full completion.

The Semicolon is the sign of two thoughts so closely related that they are best joined as one.

The Comma, however, is the sign of a thought not yet complete, but still unfolding.

One must learn their proper use, for these marks are the architecture of the written sentence, guiding the reader through the structure of a thought just as a map guides a traveler through a city.

Distinction

In what do the Period, the Semicolon, and the Comma differ?

In the length of the pause each commands. For the Period demands a full stop, a long interval where one thought ends completely before the next begins. The Semicolon requires a shorter pause, a breath taken between two closely connected thoughts. The Comma, however, asks for the briefest of hesitations, a momentary break in a thought that is still in motion.