English grammar has two main divisions: (1) The Parts of Speech, and  (2) The Sentence.

The Parts of Speech

All words in the English language may be divided into eight main groups or "parts of speech":  nouns,  pronouns,  adjectives,  verbs,  adverbs,  prepositions,  conjunctions, and  interjections.

1. A noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, condition, feeling or event. There are  (a) common nouns and  (b) proper nouns. a. A common noun names any of a class of persons, places, things, conditions, feelings, or events.  Examples: boy, girl, city, state, country, mountain, river, love, joy, peace. A common noun never begins with a capital letter except at the beginning of a sentence or when used with a proper noun. Examples: Snake River, Lincoln Middle School.  b. A proper noun is the official name of a person, place, or thing. Examples: David, Mary, Dallas, Texas, Egypt, Everest, and Amazon. A proper noun always begins with a capital letter.
2. A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun.  Examples: I, you, he, she, it, we, they, them, this, that, these, those, who, which, what. Sentence: "I love you." The pronoun "I" is always capitalized.
3. An adjective is a word that describes or limits a noun or a pronoun.  Examples: a, an, the, one, my, our, your, her, his, its, their, red, big, good, evil, tall, short. Sentence: "Your mother is a good woman."
4. A verb is a word that expresses an action or state of being. Examples of action verbs are run, walk, fly, teach, learn, eat, sleep, and work. "They walk to school." State of being verbs: be, is, am, are, feel, appear, sound, seem. Sentence: "They are tall."
5. An adverb is a word that describes or limits a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.  Examples: then, today, now, tomorrow, soon, here, there, everywhere, quickly, beautifully, carefully, well, barely, nearly, completely. Sentence: "They walk quickly."
6. A preposition is a word that shows the relationship between a word that comes before it and a noun or pronoun that follows it. Examples: in, at, by, near, to, from, into, before, after, during, until, like. Sentence: "John ran to school."
7. A conjunction is a word that connects words, phrases, or clauses to one another.  Examples: and, but, yet. Sentence: "The son was hungry and needed money." The conjunction "and" links the first part of the sentence with the second part.
8. An interjection is a word or group of words used to express sudden and strong feelings.  Examples: Ah! Oh! Wow! Oh no! Sentence: "Oh! How I want to go home!"  By learning the eight parts of speech and their meanings, you have taken a big step toward mastering the English language.

The Sentence

Now let us look briefly at the second major division of English grammar, The Sentence. A sentence is a group of words joined together to express a complete thought.  Every sentence is made up of two main parts: (1) the subject, and  (2) the predicate. 1. The subject is the part of the sentence that tells who or what the sentence is about.  For example, "God is love." In this sentence, "God" is the subject. He is the person being discussed.

2. The predicate is the part of the sentence that tells what the subject is or does. The predicate always includes a verb. In the sentence above, "is love" is the predicate. That is what is said about God.

Types of Sentences

Sentences are divided into four classes according to the way they express a thought:  (1) declarative,  (2) interrogative,  (3) imperative, and  (4) exclamatory.

1. A declarative sentence makes a statement about something and ends with a period (.). Example: "A man had two sons."
2. An interrogative sentence asks a question and ends with a question mark (?).  Example: "What does all this mean?"
3. An imperative sentence makes a request or gives a command and ends with a period or an exclamation point (!). Examples: "Hurry!" "Bring our best calf and kill it so that we can celebrate."  In imperative sentences, "you" is understood: (You) bring our best calf."
4. An exclamatory sentence says something with force and emotion and ends with an exclamation point (!).  Example: "My son was dead, but now he is alive again!"