English Grammar

The English grammar is the study of the English language. It is relatively simple in the direction where certain structures are similar to the other European languages, however it presents some characteristics.

Word order

English is a language respecting the order SVO (prone, Verbe, Objet) in the sentence déclarative.
Exemple: Tom does his homework. Tom (prone) made (verb) its duties (object). Mary eats has cake. Mary eats a cake . In general the principal element is at the beginning of the phrase.
Exemple: To run quickly. To run quickly. (verbal sentence)

There exist however exceptions.
Exemple: blue house (adjective + name). blue house . Fred' S cat. the cat of Fred .
L' word order also changes for:
* an interrogative sentence. Example: Are you going to the beach? or, C you go to the beach? do you Go to the beach ?
* the passive voice. Example: The cake is eaten by Mary. the cake is eaten by Mary .

Names

In English, the names generally apply to the people, the places, the objects or with the abstract ideas and grammatically treat way different from the verbs.

English differentiates the masculine and the female one only for the people (personal pronouns: He and she ); all the other names are neutral (pron. personnel it ), with rare exceptions, e.g. has ship (fém.): " The Titanic has famous ship. She hit year iceberg and sank."

The English names are not marked by the case, however they agree with the number and can be defined or indéfinis.
Exemple: The house where I was born. the house where I was born . House is a definite name because the house refers to a specific house, that where I was born. The houses : the houses (plural).

Plural of the names

the majority of the English names take “with the Pluriel.
Exemples: one ball (a ball), two balls (2 balls); one dog (a dog), two dogs (2 dogs); one brother (a brother), two brothers (2 brothers).
the names having a separable particle also make their plural in - S. The S is added to the most important word.
Exemples: one holdup, two hold-ups; one hanger one, two hangers one; one sound-in-law, two sound-in-law
the names ending in there preceded by a consonant to the Singular , ends in ies with the pluriel.
Exemples: one country, two countries; one story, two stories.
the names whose singular finishes by - S, - CH, - HS, and - X like certain words in - O, take their plural in - es.
Exemples: one tomato, two tomatoes; one fox, two foxes; one bus, two tubes; one watch, two watches; one brush, two brushes.
Certains words adheres to the rules Latin .
Exemples: formulated, formulae; appendix, appendices; genius, genii; compendium, compendia. Traditional plural is often valid also: formulated, geniuses, compendiums.
Several words whose last Syllabe comprises a “F” take their plural in - ves.
Exemples: one Wolf, two wolves; one life, two lives; one wife, two wives.
There are always some exceptions:

Sheep, deer is invariable. Fish is invariable when they are fish in general , but takes its plural in " - es" when one speaks about various species or races of fish, i.e. " How many fish are in the tank? " is a correct sentence if one only speaks about red fish, one would say " however; How many fishes are known to science? ". It is always possible to avoid this kind of irreguliarity by using construction " How many kinds off fish are known to science? " , which is in any event a more normal construction for the majority of the english-speaking.
One man, two men; one child, two children; one foot, two feet, one tooth, two teeth…

Genitive

The genitive is initially the case of the possessive phrase expressing the owner. In English it is a question of adding an apostrophe and the letter S. For example:

The cat' S ball (the ball of the cat)
The teenagers' ball (the ball of the teenagers, let us note that teenagers is already plural)
The children' S ball (the ball of the children, let us note that child in the plural does not take an S)
James' S ball or James' ball (the ball of James)

Adjectives

Contrary to French, the English adjectives are invariable.

He is proud , she is proud , they are proud ;
has black dog, black shoes ;
My girlfriend, my parents ;
Their daughter, to their children ;
The other day, the other solutions .

the attributive adjective (as well as the words which modifies it) is placed normally before the name which it qualifies.

has big black because : “a black big car. ”
has really interesting visit : “a really interesting visit. ”

Verbs

Auxiliaries

Times of the code

Times of the present

the Simple present (or simply present ). Get busy for the same occurrences as French, except for the nuance described below on the level of the continuous present.

Example: I listen, You listen, He/She/It/One listen' , We listen, You listen, They listen.

Note: Thou listenest (2nd person of the singular) and He/She/It listeneth are out-of-date forms. See low for deepening

the Present continuous (or present progressive ). This time is used to indicate an action which occurs in this moment. Thus, it is necessary well to have for the spirit which if one wants to say " I listen to music " , for example, it is necessary in French to add " in this moment " , in order to obtain " not; I listen to music " but " I amndt listening to music ". This time can be also used to distinguish something by its relative exceptionnality, thus the sentence " I Latin amndt studying " will express that it is an action which can be relatively unusual compared to yesterday or at tomorrow, a contrario of the sentence " I study Latin " , which would mean rather than it is about something of normal and usual. This time can be finally used to indicate a future action, for little that a temporal code comes to underline it (example: We' Re seeing has film tomorrow).

Formal example: I amndt listening, You are listening, He/She/It/One is listening, We are listening, You are listening, They are listening.

the Present perfect (or simply perfect ). This time is used to speak about an action whose beginning is in the past, and who continues to affect the present. It is about a time of the present, because the verb cuts on which he is built is combined at the present.

If the context clearly passed, English does not use the present perfect but the preterite or past tense . Thus the following sentence is incorrect: “*Bob, who is now dead, has seen the movie many times” (“Bob, which died today, saw film several times”): the fact that Bob died place all that relates to it in a last context. If the statement comprises a marker of last time (“in the past”, “three days ago”, “when I was Young”, etc) the use of the present perfect is not possible, for the same reason. It should be noted that French makes a use very different from last composed, time which resembles by its formation the present perfect: thus in French it is perfectly possible to say “I completed the work yesterday” or “we married in 1965”. On the other hand, There is not a great difference in direction between " I did it many times" (making use of last) and " I' ve gives it many times." This time can act as function of present perfect continuous when it is modified by a sentence indicating the duration of time since the beginning of the action. Thus " I cuts worked one this project since March" is the equivalent of " I cuts been working one this project since March." (the " proposal; I cuts worked one this project for six months" is equivalent perfect continuous in term of direction)

Example: I cuts listened, You cuts listened, He/she/It/One has listened, We cuts listened, You cuts listened, They cuts listened.

the Present perfect continuous is used to indicate that something started in the past and is always worth for the present.

Example: I cuts been listening, You cuts been listening, He/she/It/One has been listening, We cuts been listening, You cuts been listening, They cuts been listening.

Times of the past

the Simple past or preterite . Is used it to express a completed action, which occurred at one time defined in the past. (In English, contrary to other languages with time Aorist, this time indicates that the action took place in the past, and that it does not take place any more.) Several students of English confuse simple the past and the present perfect, and find difficult to distinguish between the two. What adds to the difficulty, it is that the American English prefers to use the preterit, where somebody which speaks another alternative of English would prefer the present perfect.

Example: I/You/He/She/It/One/We/You/They listened

the Past perfect or pluperfect . It expresses an action completed, in the past, and before another, a priori evoked jointly. The pluperfect thus expresses an action " still plus" in the past, relative with the other. A sentence with the past perfect generally has need for a second verb or verbal group for clarification: “He realized He had been fooled. ” The past perfect is in particular used for the indirect speech: “She said her husband had already gone away. ”

Example: I/You/He/She/It/One/We/You/They had listened

the continuous preterite (also known like imperfect , Past continuous or past progressive ): is used to speak about an action " incomplète" , produced in the past. Often, the English professors use sentences starting with " when" or " while" to explain the difference between the simple past and the past continuous: " While I was watching TV, the telephone rang" , meaning the same ace " When the telephone row, I was watching TV."

Example: I was listening, You were listening, He/She/It/One was listening, We were listening, You were listening, They were listening.

the Past perfect continuous or simply " perfect continuous". Generally used with a code of duration, it indicates that an event continued for a certain time, and that it was completed before another evoked event.

Example: When Peter entered my room, I had been listening to music for half year hour. (When Peter entered my room, I had already listened to music during half an hour)
Formal example: I/You/He/She/It/One/We/You/They had been listening

Times of the future

the Simple future : Used to express that an event will occur, in the future, or of an action which the subject intends to achieve. Note that certain handbooks consider " Be going" more one infinitive like another form of simple future. There are sometimes situations where " will do" or " Be going to do" is more fluid or more in agreement with the context, but they are generally equivalent.

Example: I shall/will listen, You will listen, He/She/It/One will listen, We shall/will listen, You will listen, They will listen

the Future continuous . Used to speak about an event which did not start yet, parallel to the action or with the evoked amount of time (E).

Example: I will Be waiting for you when your planes Lands.
Example: I shall/will Be listening, You will Be listening, He/She/It/One will Be listening, We shall/will Be listening, You will Be listening, They will Be listening

the Future perfect . Indicate an action which arrives before one second action in the future: Normally two future actions are expressed, and future the perfect indicates that one of the two actions will be then past compared to the other (e.g " I will know the tune next week because I will cuts listened to it").

Example: I shall/will cuts listened, You will cuts listened, He/She/It/One will cuts listened, We shall/will cuts listened, You will cuts listened, They will cuts listened

the Future perfect continuous . Express an action continuale which will take place in the future, before another action also expressed in the future.

Example: I will cuts been waiting for two hours when her planes finally arrive. Formal example: I shall/will cuts been listening, You will cuts been listening, He/She/It/One will cuts been listening, We shall/will cuts been listening, You will cuts been listening, They will cuts been listening

Times of the conditional one

the Present conditional or simply " conditional". Express that an event in the past would take place in the future, or that the speaker intended to fair quelquechose.

Example: I should/would listen, You would listen, He/She/It/One would listen, We should/would listen, You would listen, They would listen

the Present continuous conditional . Used to express an event continual which had not been initiated yet.

Example: I should/would Be listening, You would Be listening, He/She/It/One would Be listening, We should/would Be listening, You would Be listening, They would Be listening

the Conditional perfect . Indicate that an action would take place after another event.

Example: I should/would cuts listened, You would cuts listened, He/She/It/One would cuts listened, We should/would cuts listened, You would cuts listened, They would cuts listened

the Conditional perfect continuous . Express an action continuale which would take place in the future, in the past after another event.

Example: I should/would cuts been listening, You would cuts been listening, He/She/It/One would cuts been listening, We should/would cuts been listening, You would cuts been listening, They would cuts been listening

The requirement

As in French, the requirement is worth only for the present and that for three people (you, us and you)

example with the verb to walk:

walk
Let' S walk
walk

Subjunctive

The subjunctive is distinguished in English from the code in three circumstances:

with the third nobody of the singular of the present indicative,
with the verb to Be at the present,
with the first and third people of the singular of the verb to Be to the past.

In addition, them are not used at the present subjunctive; all at least not as tel.

subjunctive present

example: I asked that it Be gives yesterday.

subjunctive last

example: Yew that were true, I' D know it.

construction with a modal verb

The mode of the subjunctive can be expressed using modal the shall (should) and may (might). For example:

I recommend that He (should) Be taken away.
(May) the Lord bless you and keep you.
I could your dine in the oven so that it (should) keep warm.
He wrote it in his diary so that He (might) remember.

old pronouns

In (that is to say the period going roughly of second half of the 14th century at 1650), the pronoun thou was of use; like ye , which gave rise to the plural you, and which, seems it, was employed in certain occurrences parallel to thou , second nobody of the singular.

Thou renvoit with the second nobody of the singular. It is the direct form (function of subject), the oblique form (function additional object) being thee and the génitive form (function additional of the name) being thine . The associated possessive adjective is thy , and the reflexive pronoun thyself . (If one wants an analogy with another pronoun, the forms thou/thee/thine/thy/thyself correspond respectively to I/me/mine/my/myself with the first nobody.) The regular verbs are governed by rules rather simple, valid for the present and the past: the second nobody of the singular takes - (E) St and the third - HT. The irregularities of modern English seem to be soluble in this rule, thus can one find the examples following:

to know: thou knowest, thou knewest
to drive: thou drivest, thou drovest
to make: thou makest, thou madest
to coils: thou lovest, thou lovedest

The following verbs are irregular on thou (are indicated their present on thou, even their past over thou and/or their present on it):

to Be: thou art (or thou beest), thou wast (or thou wert; originally thou were) - it is
to cuts: thou hast, thou hadst
to C: thou dost (or thou doest, when not used as an auxiliary) and thou didst
may: thou mayest (or thou mayest) - it may
shall: thou shalt
will: thou wilt

As, for the other verbs as to Be, the last subjunctive was distinguishable past of the code in Early Modern English at the second nobody of the singular. For example: code thou sattest, but subjunctif thou sat.

In some texts which use thou, - is or - St is sometimes added; for example, thou beest frequently appears in works of Shakespeare and its contemporaries.

Their modern survival

The pronoun thou disappeared from the everyday usage and left room to you . However, this pronoun (and associated forms) were maintained in the prayers (of which the text was fixed): thus, of many anglophone Christians, while addressing itself to God, always employ the pronoun thou (for example, ours English Père starts with Our Father, which art in Heaven, Hallowed Be Thy Name… ).

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