What is Grammar?

Grammar is the system of a language. People sometimes describe grammar as the "rules" of a language; but in fact no language has rules*. If we use the word "rules", we suggest that somebody created the rules first and then spoke the language, like a new game. But languages did not start like that. Languages started by people making sounds which evolved into words, phrases and sentences. No commonly-spoken language is fixed. All languages change over time. What we call "grammar" is simply a reflection of a language at a particular time.

Do we need to study grammar to learn a language? The short answer is "no". Very many people in the world speak their own, native language without having studied its grammar. Children start to speak before they even know the word "grammar". But if you are serious about learning a foreign language, the long answer is "yes, grammar can help you to learn a language more quickly and more efficiently." It's important to think of grammar as something that can help you, like a friend. When you understand the grammar (or system) of a language, you can understand many things yourself, without having to ask a teacher or look in a book.

So think of grammar as something good, something positive, something that you can use to find your way - like a signpost or a map.

* Except invented languages like Esperanto. And if Esperanto were widely spoken, its rules would soon be very different.

Grammar hot links
Verbs | Passive voice | Modal verbs | Conditionals | Questions | Irregular verbs | Going to | Gerunds | Phrasal Verbs | Tenses | Nouns | (Un)Countable nouns | Adjectives | Articles | Preposition List

English Grammar Terms (long version)
English Grammar Terms (short version)

The 8 English Parts of Speech
These are the words that you use to make a sentence. There are only 8 types of word - and the most important is the Verb!

• Verbs be, have, do, work
• Nouns man, town, music
• Adjectives a, the, 69, big
• Adverbs loudly, well, often
• Pronouns you, ours, some
• Prepositions at, in, on, from
• Conjunctions and, but, though
• Interjections ah, dear, er, um

Grammar Quizzes
Parts of Speech Quiz
Verb Classification Quiz
Main Verb Forms Quiz
Active or Passive Quiz
Subjunctive Quiz
Future Time Quiz
Continuous Tense Quiz
Used to do Quiz
Have to, Must Quiz
Can, Could Quiz
Questions Quiz
Tag Questions Quiz
Infinitive or -ing Quiz
Gerunds Quiz
Phrasal Verbs Quiz
Phrasal Verbs Quiz
Conditionals Quiz
For or Since Quiz
Present Simple Quiz
Present Continuous Quiz
Present Perfect Quiz
Present Perfect Continuous
Past Simple Quiz
Past Continuous Quiz
More Grammar Quizzes...

English Grammar Links
Search the English Club ESL Webguide for links to many other grammar sites.

The Grammarman Interview
Josef Essberger chats with Brian Boyd, creator of Grammarman, the world's first and only grammar superhero.