Basic English Grammar Rules

For those first learning English as a second language, it helps to know a few of the basic English grammar rules in order to start putting together your first English sentences. In order to starting making sense of English, it helps to break it down to the smallest component rules. Some of these rules will be easy to follow, like putting the subject before the verb and the verb before the object. Some of them, however, are more difficult to understand, like the relationship between gender, number, and case and the agreement of subject and verb. These basic English grammar rules are what make our language make sense, but they can be a challenge for students coming to English from other languages.

One of the key rules for English grammar is that word order matters. In many other languages, word order is rather fluid, and the endings on a word tell you what its function in the sentence is. Instead, in the basic English grammar rules, a word’s position in the sentence controls its function. Generally, the subject comes first. This is the person or thing doing the action. Next comes the verb, followed by the direct and indirect objects and then any secondary information. Because word order is so important in English, it’s essential to master the basic English grammar rules for word order in order to create complete and coherent sentences.

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