With two main exceptions, grammatical English sentences have a subject followed by a predicate. (Example: "We rested.")
Exception #1: Direct questions reverse the order. (Example: "Is it?")
Exception #2: Sentences in imperative mood often omit the subject: (Example: "Go!")
The subject is a noun (example: "man"), noun phrase (example: "the sleepy man"), or pronoun ("he").
The predicate is a verb (example: "sleep") or verb phrase (example: "sleep well tonight").
If the predicate has an object, it usually follows the verb.
Thus, English uses SVO (subject-verb-object) order.
Detailed information on parts of speech
Most nouns have only two forms for number -- singular and plural. Most nouns have no gender. Noun declensions have only two cases: nominative and possessive. (Example: dog; dog's.) However, many pronouns have separate nominative, objective, and possessive cases. (Example: he; him; his.)
Regular verbs in the present tense tend to have identical forms for the first-person, second-person, and plural. (Example: I dance; you dance; we dance; they dance.) The third-person-singular is marked by appending the letter "-s" to the verb stem. (Example: She dances.) The simple present tense normally indicates habitual action; for other usages, the progressive is normally heard. (Example: She is dancing.)
In regular verbs, past tense is marked by appending the letters "-ed" to the verb stem. (Example: He danced.) Other tenses use such auxiliaries as "have", "will", "may", and so forth. (Example: I have danced; they will dance; etc.)
There are many irregular verbs, alas; and many exceptions within the patterns of irregularity.
Most adjectives and adverbs can have comparative and superlative forms. (Example: loud, louder, loudest.) They never take different forms for gender or number. (Example: loud man; loud noises.)
English articles do not vary by case or gender. They are omitted for possessive nouns. There is one definite article: "the". The indefinite article has two forms: "a" before a word that begins with a consonantal sound, or "an" before a word that begins with a vocalic sound.
English prepositions can be used in two ways: after a verb, to modify its meaning (thus functioning very similarly to adverbs); or preceding a noun phrase, to show action, agency, location, and so forth. These usages tend to blend into one another without easy distinction. (Example: "climb the hill" versus "climb up the hill".)
English spelling is extremely irregular, and tends to respect etymology more than phonetics. Unfortunately for those who want to spell correctly, English vocabulary derives from Anglo-Saxon, French, Latin, Greek, and many other languages.
2007-03-12 06:36:31
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answer #2
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answered by Joe S 3
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The verbs, the same as any language.
2007-03-12 03:51:18
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answer #3
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answered by Max 6
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i before e except after c or as sounded as a as in neighing and weigh
2007-03-13 23:37:55
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answer #4
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answered by Upgrade 3
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That any rule there is will immediately be broken in the next sentence you speak or write.
2007-03-12 04:31:31
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answer #5
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answered by rdenig_male 7
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