Many writers have excellent ideas but struggle with grammar. Bad grammar should not hinder a writer. Writing with better grammar can be learned and it takes a bit of practise. With a few simple grammar rules, sentences can be complete and have proper structure in any kind of writing.
Basic Grammar and Sentence Structure
Any writing, whether it be formal, academic or simply fiction, can be improved with a good grasp on basic proper grammar and good sentence structure. Good grammar will not only improve the quality of the writing, but make the writing clearer and possibly better liked.
Parts of a Sentence
A sentence can be broken into understandable parts. A proper sentence has a subject, an object and a verb. The subject is the person or thing performing the verb. The object is the person or thing having the verb done to them. And the verb is the action in the sentence.
A simple sentence, for example, “Sally held the cat.” In this sentence, “Sally” is the subject, “held” is the verb, and “the cat” is the object. For understanding the difference between the subject and the object, ask the question “who or what?” Who is performing the action? Sally. What is receiving the action? The cat.
The Use of Nouns, Adjectives, Verbs and Adverbs
A noun is the name of a person, a place or a thing. A noun can be the subject or the object of a sentence. An adjective is a word describing a noun. For example: big, small, pretty, green, red, and fine are all adjectives. A verb, as previously mentioned, is an action word and no sentence is complete without it. An adverb is a word that describes a verb. For example: gently, kindly, haphazardly, quickly, rudely, and jovially are all adverbs. Take note that most adverbs end in “ly.”
Every sentence can include all four of these kinds of words. For example: “Sally held the orange cat gently.”
The Use of Contractions
A contraction is two words attached together with an apostrophe replacing one letter. Don’t, aren’t, wasn’t, and didn’t are common contractions.
In formal or academic writing, it is best to avoid using contractions as they can make a piece of writing feel more colloquial and informal. When writing fiction, contractions can be used in narration depending on the writer’s style and the type of story. The use of contractions in dialogue is encouraged as it is a conversational tool. It is advisable to use less contractions in the narration than the dialogue to make a distinction between the two, but it is up to the personal style of the writer.
The Use of First, Second and Third Person
In formal and academic writing, the use of the third person (he she, they) is recommended as it is more formal than the second (you) or the first (I). The second person tends to seep into informal blogs and web writing. The first person is actually great for blogs and gives an interesting viewpoint in fiction.
Proper sentence structure is important especially for formal and academic writing. Understanding good basic grammar is a great step toward more polished writing in any setting.
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