The structure of a language is known as its grammar.
Words are the building blocks of language. Grammar is a set of rules that determines how these building blocks can be put together in different combinations to create well-formed phrases, clauses and sentences, which enable and enrich conversation.
Parts of speech
Words are grouped together according to the functions they perform in a sentence. There are ten parts of speech in English. Nouns (or pronouns) and verbs are essential to the structure of a sentence, but it’s the other parts of speech, including adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions and prepositions, that make a sentence interesting.
Amy arrived.
This sentence contains all the essential parts of speech but it is not very informative or interesting.
My friend Amy arrived early, so we went straight to the local beach.
Non-essential parts of speech can be added to a sentence to make it more descriptive.
Structuring sentences
Without the rules of grammar, words would be placed in a random order, and no one would be able to understand what anyone else was saying. An ability to communicate effectively comes from following the rules. A sentence must also be correctly punctuated for it to make sense. Grammar explains which order to put words in, while punctuation marks indicate how a sentence should be read.
The ten parts of speech
Noun – a word used to name a person, animal, place or thing.
Adjective – a word used to describe a noun or pronoun.
Verb – a word that expresses an action or a state of being.
Adverb – a word that describes and adds information to a verb or a verb phrase.
Pronoun – a word that takes the place of a noun.
Preposition – a word that indicates the relationship between two people or things, usually in terms of where they are.
Conjunction – a word used to link words and clauses.
Interjection – a word that usually occurs alone and expresses emotion.
Article – a word used with a noun to refer to a specific person or thing, or someone or something in general.
Determiner – a word used in front of a noun to denote something specific or something of a particular type. Articles are also determiners.
Writing Tips 