English Grammar
English Grammar
The grammar of a language includes basic axioms such as the existence of tenses
of verbs, articles and adjectives and their proper order, how questions are
phrased, and much more. Language cannot function without grammar. It would
simply make no sense. People require grammar to communicate effectively.
Speakers and listeners, authors and their audiences must function in like systems
in order to understand one another. In other words, a language without grammar
is like a pile of bricks without mortar to hold them together or the masons to
build with them. While the basic components are present, they are, for all intents
and purposes, useless.
The word grammar comes from the Greek, meaning "craft of letters." It's an apt
description. In any language, grammar is:
Intimidating, to be sure, but native speakers don't have to worry about studying
each and every rule. Even if you don't know all the lexicographical terms and
pedantic minutiae involved in the study of grammar, take it from noted novelist
and essayist Joan Didion: "What I know about grammar is its infinite power. To
shift the structure of a sentence alters the meaning of that sentence."
Grammar is actually something all of us begin to learn in our first days and weeks
of life, through interaction with others. From the moment we're born, language—
and the grammar that makes up that language—is all around us. We start
learning it as soon as we hear it spoken around us, even if we don't fully
comprehend its meaning yet.
Although a baby wouldn't have a clue about the terminology, they do begin to
pick up and assimilate how sentences are put together (syntax), as well as figure
out the pieces that go into making up those sentences work (morphology).
Sources
Crystal, David. "The Fight for English." Oxford University Press. 2006
Pinker, Steven. "Words and Rules." Harper. 1999
Greenbaum, Sidney; Nelson, Gerald. "An Introduction to English
Grammar". Second Edition. Pearson. 2002