Relevance of Grammar

 

Dr. Manoj Kumar Singh ¹

 

¹ Assistant Professor, Department of English, C.M. College, Darbhanga (Bihar), India

 

1. INTRODUCTION

Initiating the parts of speech and setting the sentences systematically are the true utility of grammar. The awareness from noun to interjection is the essence of grammar. Defining parts of speech, Wren and Martin say, “Words are divided into different kinds or classes, called parts of speech, according to their use: that is, according to the work they do in a sentence.” Wren and Martin (1999) The proper use of pronoun and preposition has its special significance both in written and spoken English. The world of adjective is as vast as an adverb. An adjective, on the one hand, qualifies a noun or pronoun, an adverb modifies both an adjective and verb, on the other. The verb covers the entire area of the word of action. But when classified, the verb is of two types, one is the principal verb which has five forms, and the other is the helping verb that helps the principal verb. They are following:

Do, does, did, is, am, are, have, has, had, was, were, shall, should, will, would, can, could, may, might, must, dare, need, ought to and used to. Drawing a demarcation, Dr. Singh states - “Auxiliary Verbs can, may, shall, will, could, might, should, would, must, ought, used, dare, and need are called Modals or Modal Auxiliaries or Modal Auxiliary Verbs.” Singh (2012) A conjunction, as the name is, combines two or more than two words or sentences together. An interjection expresses sudden feeling of the heart like sudden happiness, sorrow, anger, hatred, and wonder. All the exclamatory words like ‘Alas!’, ‘oh!’, ‘ah!’, ‘bravo!’, ‘fie!’ etc. are the appropriate examples of an interjection.

The use of person, number, gender, and case has also the prime utility in grammar. The subjects of the first person, second person and third person are used either in singular or in plural number. The gender is used to denote male and female animal. Some words are used in common gender, that is, both male and female animal. A neuter gender is generally used to denote the non-living things. Defining the term case, Mr. Sharma says, “The case of a noun or a pronoun shows its relation to other words in a sentence.”  Sharma (2009)    

Grammar stands for its structures. The commonest structure of a sentence is – subject + verb + object + complement

But the structure changes as the sentence is defined and classified. Nesfield defines sentence – “A combination of words that makes complete sense is called a sentence.” Nesfield (2001) In grammar, there are mainly five sentences. An assertive sentence makes a simple statement either in affirmative or in negative form.

As: - The teacher teaches English. (Affirmative Sentence)

The teacher doesn’t teach English. (Negative Sentence)

An interrogative sentence is used to ask a question either in Yes/No form or in Wh-form.

As: - Do you speak English? (Yes/No)

         What do you read? (Wh-question)

An imperative sentence denotes order, advice, request, prohibition, and proposal.

As: - Complete the task.

Get up early in the morning.

Please give me a hundred rupee note.

Do not insult the poor.

Let us join the team.

To understand easily, an imperative sentence is divided into three kinds. They are:

1)     Beginning with V1 (order, advice, request)

As: - Solve the sum. (order)

Take care of your health. (advice)

Help me, please. (request)

2)     Beginning with Do not (prohibition)

As: - Do not tease anyone.

Do not cry in the class.

 

3)     Beginning with Let (proposal)

As: - Let us enjoy the movie.

Let Ravi come to college.

An optative sentence is used to denote desires.

 As: - Were I an educationist!

 If I were the captain of Indian Cricket Team!

 Had I a car!

 May you live long! 

An optative sentence is divided mainly in three kinds. They are:

1)     The desire of post (Beginning with ‘Were’ and ‘If’)

As: - Were I a film actor!

Or: - If I were a film actor!

2)     The desire of things (Beginning with – Had, Could, Should, Would and If)

As: - Had I a laptop!

Or: - If I had a laptop!

Or: - Could I have a laptop!

Or: - I could have a laptop!

3)     The desire of blessing and curse (Beginning with ‘May’)

As: - May you get a job!

 May he die soon!

The last sentence is an exclamatory sentence. It expresses sudden feeling of the heart.

As: - Hurrah! We have won the match.

 What a fine morning today is!

An exclamatory sentence is divided into two kinds:

1)     Beginning with an exclamatory word:

As: - Alas! He failed.

 Bravo! You have won the first prize.

 Fie! He is a mean-minded man.

2)     Beginning with ‘What a’, ‘Such a’ and ‘How’:

As: - What a beautiful picture it is!

 Such a difficult sum it is!

 How dirty water of this bucket is!

In addition to these sentences, sometimes an emphatic sentence is used. It is used for emphasizing.

As: - He does take tea.

 She did make tea for us.

 Ravi shall come to have a cup of coffee with us.

Observing all these sentences in English grammar, we find four other sentences that are based on clause. They are:

1)     Simple Sentence

2)     Compound Sentence

3)     Complex Sentence

4)     Mixed or Multitude Sentence.

But before defining these sentences, it is essential to know the clause and the finite verb. According to Pandit, “A clause is a group of words forming part of a sentence and having subject and predicate of its own.” Pandit (2001)

In other words, such a group of words which makes part of a sentence and contains a subject and predicate is called a clause. It is obvious that the doer of the action is called a subject and whatever is told about the subject is called a predicate.

As: - Ravi appears at the examination.

Here, ‘Ravi’ is subject and ‘appears at the examination’ is known as predicate.

Following sentence is an example of clause:

I couldn’t attend the party yesterday because I was out of station.

Here, there are two clauses. The first is- ‘I couldn’t attend the party yesterday’ and ‘because I was out of station’ is the second clause.

Clause is determined on the basis of finite verbs. There is a mathematical formula to determine the clause. Total number of finite verbs is equal to total number of clauses. If a sentence contains only one finite verb, it is sure that the clause is one but when a sentence contains two finite verbs, certainly, there are two clauses in a sentence.

Finite and non-finite verb:

The verb which is used according to the number and person of the subject is called a finite verb. The verb which is not governed by its subject is called a non-finite verb.

As: - He is reading English.

Here, ‘is’ is a finite verb and ‘reading’ is a non-finite verb.

The clause has been divided into three kinds. They are: Principal Clause, Sub-ordinate Clause and Co-ordinate Clause.

Principal Clause is a group of words which makes part of a sentence and contains a subject and predicate and does not depend on other clause, but sub-ordinate clause is a group of words which always depends on the principal clause.

As: - He got only fifty percent marks because he didn’t labour hard.

In this sentence, the first clause is a principal clause and the second is the sub-ordinate clause.

Co-ordinate clause is either a part of principal clause or a part of sub-ordinate clause. The following words are known as co-ordinate clause:

And, but, or, nor, either…or, neither…nor, for, therefore, else etc.

As: - He laboured hard but failed.

In the above example, ‘He laboured hard’ is a principal clause and ‘but failed’ is said to be a co-ordinate to principal clause, that is, principal clause.

On the basis of clause, a simple sentence is one which contains only one principal clause.

As: - I couldn’t appear at the mid- term examination because of illness.

A compound sentence one which contains two principal clauses.

As: - I wrote a letter and posted it.

A complex sentence contains only one principal clause and one or more sub-ordinate clause.

As: - As the sun rose, the fog dispersed.

A mixed sentence, as the name is, contains two principal clauses and one or more sub-ordinate clause.

As: - While Sachin was playing cricket and scored a half century runs, Dravid came to him and gave him a bottle of pepsy.

Tense is another important grammatical item which beautifies and justifies the sentences properly. The use of present, past, and future tense makes the impression effective and attractive as well. According to Thakur, “By tense we understand the correspondence between the form of the verb and our concept of time.”6 The rules of time and tense cover the entire utility of tense used in sentences correctly. Tenses are recognized on the basis of their structures, such as:

Simple present tense:

Affirmative: subject + verb + object

Negative: subject + do/does + not + v1 + object

Question: Do/does + subject + v1 + object +?

Negative question: Do/does + subject + not + v1 + object +?

Wh-question: Wh-word + do/does + subject + v1 +?

Such examples of structures of different tenses should be learnt to find on the basis of tenses.

The combined study of ‘tense’ and ‘time and tense’ felicitates the learners to utilize their concept both in writing and speaking English as well.

The study of syntax is, as a matter of fact, the thorough awareness of the entire world of singular and plural subject and verb. In the words of Thakur, the etymological meaning of syntax is “putting things together in an orderly manner.”7 In other words, the agreement of subject and verb is called syntax. S- S and P- P rules are applied to balance the equation of syntax.

As: - He drives the car smoothly. (Singular subject & singular verb)

 They drive the car smoothly. (Plural subject & plural verb)

Thus, singular subject is followed by singular verb and plural subject is followed by plural verb. Peechaatt expresses syntax simply as – “A verb must agree with its subject in Number and in Person…” Peechaatt (2004)

The utility of ‘Transformation’ in grammar has its own taste. It is a process in which we change the form of a sentence without altering the sense. It covers some significant parts of grammar like degree, voice, narration, and some sentences.

In the words of Prasad, “Transformation means the change of a sentence from one grammatical form to another without altering the sense.”  Prasad (1998)

As: - He is an ordinary man. (Affirmative)

 He is not an extra-ordinary man (Negative)

The meaning of both the above sentences is same.

According to Imam, “Transformation, as its very name implies, is the process of changing a sentence from one form to another, without altering its sense.” Imam (1999)

Unlike five forms of verb, a degree is the different stages of an adjective. The first stage of an adjective is called an adjective of Positive Degree (P.D.), the second stage is a Comparative Degree (C.D.) and the third is called the Superlative Degree (S.D.). All these stages of adjective are identified on the basis of their structures.

The utility of ‘voice’ in grammar has another great importance in framing the sentences. The passive form of a sentence is more decent than active voice in spoken English but at learning stage, both active and passive have the equal importance. Defining voice, Lal says, “Voice is the verb form which indicates the relation of the subject of the verb to the action which the verb expresses.”  Lal (1982)

Narration of Transformation is an interesting part to learn first time. It expresses an assertion in two ways – direct and indirect. Direct Narration is the way in which the statement of the speaker is expressed in his/her own language whereas indirect form of narration is expressed in others language. Stating the narration, Thomson says, “there are two ways of relating what a person has said: direct and indirect.” Thomson and Martinet (2004) The utility of narration is also seen in story writing.

Article in grammar has its prime utility both in written and spoken English. In the words of Gopal and Sampson, or and they are called articles. They are really Demonstrative Adjectives.” Gopal and Sampson (1992) ‘A’ and ‘an’ are known as indefinite article and ‘the’ is a definite article.

Non-finites in grammar have also its significant role. Infinitive, gerund, and participles are known as non-finites. Defining separately, Pandit says, “The Infinitive is the form of the verb which denotes an action or a state without reference to number, person or case.”  Pandit (2001) The ‘ing’ form of a verb is generally known as the gerund which is used both as a subject and object. The present participle is also the ‘ing’ form of a verb, but it is normally used as an adjective. The past participle is the v3 form which is also used as an adjective and the perfect participle begins with ‘having + v3’ (+ main clause). 

As: - To walk is an exercise. (Full Infinitive)

 He makes me laugh. (Bare Infinitive)

 Walking is an exercise. (Gerund)

 India is a developing country. (Present Participle)

 India is a developed country. (Past Participle)

 Having reached home, I slept. (Perfect Participle)

Last but not the least, idioms and phrases have their significant role in grammar. They are actually readymade items to use. Peechaatt says, “Idioms can be defined as expressions peculiar to a language.” Peechaatt (2004) The idiomatic usages play a very prominent role in all languages.    

Thus, the utility of all the basic parts of grammar makes the readers able to write, comprehend and speak English correctly. These parts are really the keys to grammar.

 

CONFLICT OF INTERESTS

None . 

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

 None .

 

 

 

 

 

REFERENCES

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Imam, S.T. (1999). Brush up your English. Bharti Bhawan. 282.

Lal, B. N. (1982). New Style English grammar and composition. Asha Prakashan Greh. 120-125. https://10.29121/granthaalayah.v10.i4.2022.4580

Nesfield, J.C. (2001). English grammar, composition and usage. Macmillan Publishers India. 1.

Pandit B. (2001). A brilliant English grammar. Brilliant Prakashan. 477- 500.

Pandit, B. (2001). A brilliant English grammar. Brilliant Prakashan. 543.

Peechaatt, J.T. (2004). Essential English grammar & composition. Holy Faith International. 128-131.

Peechaatt, J.T. (2004). Essential English grammar & composition. Holy Faith International. 175.

Prasad, S. (1998). Golden English grammar. Bharati Bhawan Publishers & Distributors. 237-256.  

Sharma, R.K. (2009). Juniur English grammar.Lucent Publication. 64.

Singh, A. K. (2012). High school British English grammar 7 composition. Students’ Friends.  

Thakur, D. (2011). Syntax : linguistics simplified. Bharati Bhawan Publishers & Distributors. 1.

Thakur, K.P. (1982). A practical guide to English grammar. Bharati Bhawan Publishers & Distributors. 98.

Thomson, A.J. and Martinet, A.V. (2004). A practical English grammar. Oxford English Press. 269.

Wren, P.C. and Martin, H. (1999). High school English grammar & composition. S. Chand & Company LTD. 3.