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Welcome to Basic Rules of English!

You can learn the basic rules of English language here.


About this site

I created this site to inform you about the basics of English.


What Are Basic English Grammar Rules?

There are hundreds of grammar rules but the basic ones refer to sentence structure and parts of speech, which are noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition and conjunction. Let’s look at the way sentences are put together and the words that form them.

Basic English Grammar Rules

Some of the most basic and important English grammar rules relate directly to sentence structure. Some of these rules specify that:

A singular subject needs a singular predicate. A sentence needs to express a complete thought. Another term for a sentence is an independent clause.

Clauses, like any sentence, have a subject and predicate too. If a group of words does not have a subject and predicate, it is a phrase. If they can stand alone and make a complete thought, then they are independent and called sentences. If they do not express a complete thought, they are called "dependent clauses." An example of a dependent clause, which is not a sentence, is “when i finish my work”. So, what are the other basic rules for sentence structure?

Subjects and Predicates

Basic to any language is the sentence, which expresses a complete thought and consists of a subject and a predicate.

The subject is the star of the sentence; the person, animal, or thing that is the focus of it. The predicate will tell the action that the subject is taking or tell something about the subject. Basic Parts of Speech Once you have a general idea of the basic grammar rules for sentence structures, it is also helpful to learn about the parts of speech:

A noun names a person, animal, place, thing, quality, idea, activity, or feeling. A noun can be singular, plural, or show possession. A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun, like: “I”, “you”, or “they.” A verb shows action and can be a main verb or a helping verb, like: “were” or “has.” Verbs also indicate tense and sometimes change their form to show past, present, or future tense. Linking verbs link the subject to the rest of the sentence and examples are: “appear” and “seem.” An adjective modifies a noun or a pronoun. It adds meaning by telling how much, which one, what kind, or describing it in other ways. An adverb will modify a verb and tell more about it, like how much, when, where, why, or how. A preposition shows a relationship between nouns or pronouns. It is often used with a noun to show location, like: “beside”, “in”, or “on”. It can also show time, direction, motion, manner, reason, or possession. Conjunctions connect two words, phrases, or clauses, and common ones are: “and”, “but”, and “or.” Mention needs to be made about other types of words that are considered by some, but not all, to be parts of speech.

One of them is the interjection. It shows emotion and examples are: “yea”, “hurray”, “uh-oh”, and “alas.” Articles are very useful little words that are also sometimes considered to be parts of speech. The articles are: “a”, “an”, and “the”. Indefinite articles are “a” and “an” and “the” is a definite article. Punctuation To fully understand basic grammar rules, you also need to look at punctuation rules.

All sentences must start with a capital, or upper case, letter. Titles of people, books, magazines, movies, specific places, etc. are capitalized. Organizations and compass points are capitalized. Every sentence needs a punctuation mark at the end of it. These would include a period, exclamation mark, or question mark. Colons are used to separate a sentence from a list of items, between two sentences when the second one explains the first, and to introduce a long direct quote. Semicolons are used to take the place of a conjunction and are placed before introductory words like “therefore” or “however.” They are also used to separate a list of things if there are commas within each unit. There are a lot of rules for commas. The basic ones are commas separate things in a series and go wherever there is a pause in the sentence. They surround the name of a person being addressed, separate the day of the month from the year in a date, and separate a town from the state. Parentheses enclose things that clarify and enclose numbers and letters that are part of a list. Apostrophes are used in contractions to take the place of one or more letters and to show possession. An apostrophe and “s” is added if the noun is singular and an apostrophe alone is added if the noun is plural. So, now you know some basic grammar rules and you'll be well on your way to becoming a grammar expert.

How To Overcome Your Fear Of Speaking English?

They say that practice makes perfect. Nowhere is this more pertinent than when learning to speak a new language. But one of many people’s greatest stumbling blocks to achieving fluency in English is their fear of failure.

Fear of failure has stopped many a great project in its tracks, business from being created or marriage vows exchanged. Yet, just as Honoré de Balzac famously said, our greatest fears lie in anticipation. So if getting choked up and tongue-tied is getting in your way, check out these tips to help overcome your fear of speaking English.

1. It’s Never As Bad As You Imagine How many times did you worry about giving a presentation, taking an exam, or meeting your in-laws for the first time? People deal these kinds of stresses in different ways. But if you’re prone to sleepless nights, palpitations or panic attacks, it’s time to appeal to the logical side of your brain and relax. It’s never as bad as you think it will be.

You know those people who stand up in front of the cameras, give conferences and speak confidently in another language? Here’s a little secret for you. They all experience fear of failing at some point or another (maybe even all the time). No one was born speaking any language, much less fluent in more than one.

If you’re learning English as a young adult, or even later in life, then remember you’re not the only one. Fear of speaking is normal. It’s how you overcome that fear that will transform you from an English language learner to an English language speaker.

2. Everyone Makes Mistakes… And Mistakes Are Useful! No one likes making mistakes. Whether you’re terrified of getting your pronunciation wrong, or worried about when to use the present perfect; remember that making mistakes is inevitable. It’s natural and the best way to learn. Whatever your native language, you’ve probably heard your own people speaking it incorrectly or stumbling over spelling.

Well I can guarantee that there are enough native English speakers to populate a small country who misuse and badly pronounce the English language. The very fact that you’re studying English grammar gives you an advantage over many natives who often receive a poor explanation of this in school.

There are many stages towards achieving language fluency and your goal at first shouldn’t be annunciating more articulately than the Queen of England. Your first goal should be to be understood. Embrace your mistakes, learn from them and get better along the way.

3. Practice Every Moment Possible I already said that practice makes perfect and you probably heard your mother saying it too. That’s because the only way to master any skill, from your diphthongs to your phrasal verbs is by practicing them regularly. The more often you speak English and get used to speaking English, the easier and more natural it will become.

If you’re not lucky enough to study English in an English speaking country, you can make use of English language radio, podcasts and television. Try to find an English speaker in your home town or city. If there isn’t anyone to practice with locally, then read, write, or find people online who want to trade.

There’s plenty of English speakers trying to learn Spanish, German, Tagalog. Practicing daily with someone you trust and aren’t afraid to make mistakes in front of will do wonders for your confidence.

4. Learn To Laugh At Yourself Approaching your English language learning journey with humor is vital to your success. Sharing a joke is a great way of breaking the ice, and if you can learn to accept making mistakes and laugh yourself, you’ll realize that speaking English can be fun.

Let’s be honest, approach anything in life with a little bit of humor and it’s suddenly a much more enjoyable task. From housework to studying for exams; learn to laugh at yourself and not only will you become a better student, but you’ll bemore likeable, approachable and encourage further conversation.


Did you know...

  • Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (*breath*) is NOT the longest word in English. This extra long word (that approximately means “fantastic”) was popularized by the movie Mary Poppins and was eventually added to the dictionary. What you probably didn’t know is that there is a word that is longer—yes longer—than this one. Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is a type of lung disease caused by inhaling ash and dust. Go ahead and try pronouncing that!

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