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Are you afraid of talking in English? Are you nervous about writing in English? Are you scared of people catching your errors in English grammar? I guess! I can help you here by providing some information about how to learn English and how to speak or write with no grammatical mistakes.

Every language has its own grammar to learn beforehand to get a basic understanding of how to speak and what to speak. Learning any language requires your efficiency and interest in the subject. 

Let us not dig into the languages; instead, we will directly jump into our topic of Basic English Learning Grammar Rules. 

Even in English, try to listen and try to speak in English. You may or may not know how to make sentences at first, but gradually speaking can help you gain expertise in English. Don’t bother with others, just keep trying and speaking as much as you can without hesitation.

Let us take a round on some of the rules when you are ready to pull up your socks for English learning grammar.

There is no specific count to keep track of Basic English learning grammar rules. But yes, I can take you to some of the basic rules which can help you better your English learning grammar. Whether you need to read or write English, grammar is most important.

Some of the basic English Learning Grammar Rules

Rule 1-The first letter of the first word in the sentence should always be capital:

In English, whenever you start writing, you must first focus on using the capital letter to the first letter of the first word in the sentence.

Examples: 

Incorrect sentence: she is a good girl.

Correct sentence: She is a good girl.

Incorrect sentence: i live in Mumbai.

Correct sentence: I live in Mumbai.

Rule 2 – Each sentence needs to end with either a question mark(?) or a full stop(.) or with an exclamation mark(!) 

To end any sentence, we have to use either a full stop(.) or a question mark(?), or an exclamation mark(!). Without using any of these, the sentence will have no meaning and the sentence will never end. 

  • The full stop(.): The full stop is used to denote that the sentence is complete with the proper message(information). 

Example: She is a good girl.

He is a good boy.

  • Question mark(?): A question mark, at the end of the sentence denotes that it is a question.

Example:

a. Is she a good girl?

b. Is he a good boy?

  • An exclamation mark(!): To express our feelings or emotions, we use an exclamation mark at the end of the sentence.

Example:

a. She is a good girl!

b. He is a good boy!

Rule 3 – Every statement must have (SVO) Subject-Verb-Object

Usually, English grammar learning says the basic is to use Subject-Verb-Object. Here, the Object is sometimes optional (depending upon the demand for its usage). Whilst the Subject plays the main role in the sentence. The Verb is the action that is performed by the Subject, and the Object is the action being performed.

This form is used for positive sentences, not with the negatives, question marks, or exclamation marks, as they all have different ways of making sentences.

Example : 

a. Anu loves to play with the dog. (Here, Anu is Subject, play is Verb, Dog is Object)

b. Henry teaches Spanish. (Here, Henry is Subject, teaches is Verb, Spanish is Object)

Rule 4-There is an interrelation between the Subject and the Verb in each sentence. 

Depending upon the Subject, if the Subject is singular, the Verb should be singular for the complete sentence, and if the Subject is plural, then the Verb should be plural.

He/She/It usually takes a singular verb. And we/they/you take a plural verb. 

Example :

a. He is driving a car.

b. She has a nice gown.

c. We are going for lunch.

d. They were so rude.

Rule 5 – When you use singular nouns, try to use either-or or neither-nor.       

Either-or and neither-nor have different usages, both are used to connect two singular nouns. 

When any of the two cases is true, you should use Either-or, which means that either this must be true.

Example:

a. Rahul and Jojo can be either friends or cousins.

b. I can have either milk or tea.

When the two subject cases are false, we use neither-nor, which means both are false.

Example:

a. Gogo is neither a good human being nor a good friend.

b. Neither Ramana nor Eamani is the culprit.

Rule 6 – Every time a proper noun is used, it should be capitalized, even at the beginning of the phrase.

Whenever the proper nouns are used in the sentence, they need to be capitalized. Either they can be at the beginning or elsewhere in the sentence, but the first letter must be written in capital letters.

Example:

a. She studies at Kendriya Vidyalaya school.

b. Amar’s friend’s name is Ajith.

Rule 7 – Common nouns should only be capitalized at the start of sentences. 

Common nouns must be written with their first letter capitalized only if they are written at the beginning of the sentences.

For example :

a. I love red roses.

b. It rains during raining season.

Rule 8 – Do not confuse the words its – it’s, and you’re – your, as they are not the same.

English learning grammar has some words that look the same but are not. They have different meanings.

Let’s look at the difference between its and it’s-

  • Its: It is a possessive determiner that indicates that something belongs to it, holds it, or relates to it.

Example – 

a. Every packed item has its expiration date.

b. The cat got hurt to its tail.

  • It’s: “It’s” is used to refer to things that have already happened within that paragraph.

Example : 

a. It’s too hot today.

b. It’s good to be at home.

Rule 9 – You must use Indefinite Articles with Countable Nouns and Definite Articles with all Countable & all Uncountable Nouns 

Definite Article(the) is used for only a few countable nouns and sometimes for uncountables also.

Example:

a. The tower is too high to take a walk.

b. The teacher asked me to get some books from other classes.

The Indefinite Articles(a/an) are used for countable nouns.

Example:

a. Murali is a good boy. He always helps others.

b. Hasini eats an apple daily.

Rule 10 – For consonant sounds, use the article “a,” whereas for vowel sounds, use “an.”

Use “a” before consonant-sounding words. And use “an” before vowel-sounding words.

Have a look at the below chart for clear details –

Consonant-Sounded Words With Article (a)

bat a bat

cat a cat

dog a dog

fish a fish

gun a gun

hat a hat

Jug a jug

Kite a kite

Lemon a lemon

Mat a mat

Vowel-Sounded Words                   With Article (an)

Apple an apple

Eagle an eagle

Elephant an elephant

Orange an orange

Umbrella an umbrella

Igloo an igloo

Apron an apron

Note: Make sure to concentrate on sound rather than word spelling while using “an” or “a”. A few words sound like vowels even if they appear to be consonants. “An hour,” for instance.

Rule 11 – Show possessions with an apostrophe

Possession refers to something that is often owned by someone, somewhere, or something else. It comes in two different forms: singular and plural. 

For singular you should use “ ‘s” ,and for plural you should use “s’ ”.

Example – 

a. Girl’s bike (singular)

b. Girls’ bikes (plural)

Rule 12 – English learning grammar favors Active voice-over Passive voice more often.

While writing articles, letters, etc, it is preferred to use the Active voice over the Passive voice.

A sentence in which the subject engages in action is known as an Active voice (verb). In contrast, the verb (activity) and not the subject is displayed in the Passive voice.

Example:

  • Passive Voice: Basketball was played by Raju.
  • Active Voice: Raju plays basketball.

Rule 13 – Use a conjunction to join two sentences. 

The coordinating conjunctions but, or, so, and, yet, for, nor can be used to join two S+V+O phrases. 

Example: Although her brother likes tea, Anna enjoys coffee.

Rule 14 – Use a comma to connect two phrases. 

Remember to comma-separate the coordinating conjunction in your writing.

Example – He’s seventy, yet he still swims regularly.

Rule 15 – When writing a list, always use serial commas. 

Don’t forget to use the serial comma in your essay.

Example – Hardy owns a dog, a cat, and a goldfish.

In the example, you can see the same speech categories across your list at all times. There are three nouns in the above example.

Rule 16: Use Modal verbs to make easy sentences.

They are commonly used words like Can, could, may, might, must, mustn’t, will, would, shall, should, ought, and needn’t.

Example: 

  1. She can run.
  2. You mustn’t be running so fast.

Rule 17: Using of WH-Questions 

The formation of the WH questions with the auxiliary is Wh-word + auxiliary + subject + main verb ..?

Example : 

a. What is your name?

b. How old are you?

The formation of the WH questions without the auxiliary is 

Wh-word + main verb …?

Example : 

a. What happened to you?

b. Who gave you these flowers?

Play around with the words-What, When, Where, Who, Whom, Which, Whose, Why, How.

Rule 18: Usage of Question Tags   

These are the questions at the end of the statements. They are used in spoken language, either for confirming the information or asking for someone’s agreement or disagreement.

Question tags = Auxiliary + Subject

Example : 

a. He’s 16 years old, isn’t he?

b. Kety didn’t help you, did she?

Rule 19 : Conditionals 

There are few conditionals we need to follow to make our grammar fluent and easy to understand. 

  • Zero conditional – Zero conditionals are used when the general truths/things are always true
  • First conditional – They are used for the real or possible situations
  • Second conditional – Second conditional is used to refer to the unreal or impossible situations at present
  • Third conditional – They are used to mention the unreal or impossible situations in the past

Rule 20: Use of proper quantifiers 

To specify the amount of something in the sentences we use quantifiers. You need to use them with nouns or sometimes without nouns. You can use them all in positive and negative sentences as well as questions.

Example –

  1. Please give me some pencils.
  2. I don’t have any pencils.
  3. She writes many stories daily.
  4. How much does this pen cost?

The quantifiers also include “A lot of” and “lots of”. They seem to be similar like both are used in informal styles with countable and uncountable singular and plural nouns. They are also used in positive, negative sentences, and questions.

Example : 

  1. He has lots of books to read.
  2. He has a lot of books to write.

Adding to the above, I have listed a few more English grammar rules you can go over with the words provided for your practice and make sentences with them:

  • Conditionals 
  • This, that, these, those
  • Preposition
  • Passive voice
  • Comparative and superlative
  • Relative clause
  • Enough
  • Countable and uncountable nouns
  • Do or make
  • Structure :: locate it/something + adj + to do some action…
  • Irregular verbs
  • Frequency Adverbs
  • Reflexing Pronouns
  • Possessive pronouns and adjectives 
  • Articles
  • Reported speech
  • Conjunction:: and, but, so, because
  • Structure::too …to …
  • Structure:: such … that …
  • Structure:: It’s (high) time to / It’s time to…
  • Structure ::It’s no good/ use + V-ING, …
  • Structure::so …that

Along with the rules of English grammar, you need to understand the tenses in English to make your basic English learning grammar effective 

  • Present Simple Tense 
  • The Present Continuous Tense
  • Present Perfect Tense
  • Past Simple Tense
  • Past Continuous Tense
  • Past Perfect Tense
  • Future Simple Tense
  • Future Continuous Tense
  • Future Perfect Tense
  • Present Perfect Continuous Tense
  • Past Perfect Continuous Tense
  • Future Perfect Continuous Tense

Other than the above rules, there are some more important factors to look over to get a better understanding of English learning grammar.

These are not “rules” of grammar like when to use conjunctions and where to put periods. They are the grammatical foundational principles of English.

  • Phonology: The sounds that make words in a language are known as phonology.
  • Morphology: A language’s smallest unit of meaning is called morphology.
  • Syntax: Syntax is the arrangement and fusion of words to produce meaning.
  • Semantics: The true meaning behind the words and sentences that make up a language is known as semantics.
  • Pragmatics: The use of idioms, figurative language, and other more abstract communication techniques is known as pragmatics, and it gives language meaning.

These all help you make clear and correct sentences to enhance your writing effectively. You can improve your grammar and learn to be the best in English by following the above rules.

I think you may be worried looking above listicles that how can you manage learning these many English Grammar rules alone. 

To not make it complicated you can take a roundabout to Henry Harvin(the top-ranked institute) which can help you learn English in a better and more interactive way.

Henry Harvin is a top-ranked institute among the top Global Ed-Tech companies which offers nine-in-one course facilities. They include

  • two-way live interactive classes,
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  • E-learning access followed by the Bootcamp sessions and the Gold membership

Henry Harvin offers multiple English learning courses as below, you can select accordingly and get into the English :

  • English Speaking course
  • English language course for kids
  • English writing course 
  • And many others…

Conclusion 

Learning is never-ending, and so is English grammar. I don’t say no one is perfect in grammar, but I can say English learning grammar is a vast and important point to remember while you learn English. There are many rules and many important aspects to follow to become proficient in English grammar. As I mentioned above, I have listed a few rules, but still, there may be many more rules if you go through them. I guess the above listings can be helpful for you to learn and speak proper English with confidence in English grammar.

Recommended Reads

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FAQ’s

Q.1 Can I go online and learn English grammar?

Ans. Yes, you can explore the internet and you can find many institutes providing online English learning grammar.

Q.2 Is English grammar important to speak English?

Ans. Of course, your grammar knowledge helps you speak better English and with confidence.

Q.3 Can I do public speaking if I am good at grammar?

Ans. If you are good at the basics of grammar, and if you know how to construct proper sentences using perfect grammar, then you can become the best public speaker.

Q.4 Is the above listings enough to learn English grammar?

Ans. Yes, all listings can help you learn English grammar. But I can not assure you to learn only the above listings as there are so many fundamentals to learn.

Q.5 Is English learning grammar difficult?

Ans. Not exactly! Learning English grammar is not that difficult if you learn the fundamentals of the English grammar.

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