1 Introduction

This term Paper contains Theoretical framework of grammar, definition of grammar,

grammatical structure, grammatical units, conclusion and references of different sources at the
end of this paper.

2 Theoretical Framework

Grammar provides students and teachers with a means for discussing sentence correctness, the
different types of sentences, and, ultimately, using sentences to make their writing “clear and
interesting and precise” (Haussamen et al, 1998, para. 4). Mulroy (2004) has noticed that
grammar is disappearing from English curriculums. Reflecting on his experiences with his
students, he has come to conclude that there is a growing ignorance of grammatical concepts.
Increasingly his students have no knowledgeof the subject. The absence of this knowledge seems
to reflect shift away from valuing grammar: “The best that most people have to say about
grammar is that correct usage impresses prospective employers; it is about as important as
shining one’s shoes” (p. 52).

Educational experts he has encountered echo this general opinion about grammar: “Years of
research had proved, they said, that the formal study of grammar was counterproductive”
(Mulroy, 2004, p.52). Mulroy (2004) laments this movement away from teaching grammar
because it is “a fundamental problem in our education system” (p.52). Grammar is the key to
understanding the language people speaks. When learning grammar, an individual can then “talk
about language…understand what makes sentences and paragraphs clear and interesting and
precise…[and has] a tool for thinking about and discussing sentences” (Haussamen et al, 1998,
para. 2). Unfortunately, Mulroy (2004) points out, students who do not understand grammar
“lack any method for analyzing meaning”; if a student can not decipher meaning, he or she
certainly can not reproduce meaning (p.53).

Generally, Grammar is what helps us make meaning that others in the community can
understand. We all use grammar, even if we don’t know what all the various grammatical
concepts are called. But it can be tricky to recognise and fix your own grammatical mistakes if
you haven’t been taught formal grammar and don’t have an explicit knowledge of the
grammatical conventions of English.

3 Definition of grammar

There are several ways to define grammar, and many have written definitions of grammar, based
on for example their view on language. One definition, which is found in Oxford
Dictionary of English Grammar, says that grammar is “the entire system of a language,
including its syntax, morphology, semantics and phonology” (Chalker & Weiner, 1994, p.
177). Other definitions, often popularly used, includethe structural rules of a language, but
exclude vocabulary, semantics and phonology. Whether a definition of grammar comprises
structural aspects only, or whether it also covers semantics and functions, depends strongly on
the current view on language and learning.

Grammar may be roughly defined as the way a language manipulates and combines words (or
bits of words) in order to form longer units of meaning (…) There is a set of rules which govern
how units of meaning may be constructed in any language: we may say that a learner who
‘knows grammar’ is one who has mastered and can apply these rules to express him or
herself in what would be acceptable language forms (Ur, 1988, p. 4).

Grammar may also be roughly defined as the way a language manipulates and combines words
(or bits of words) so as to express certain kinds of meaning, some of which cannot be conveyed
adequately by vocabulary alone. These include the way ideas are grouped and related, and
thepurposes of utterances (statement, question, request, etc). Grammar may also serve to express
time relations, singular/plural distinctions and many other aspects of meaning. There are rules
which govern how words have to be manipulated and organized so as to express these
meanings: a competent speaker of the language will be able to apply these rules so as to convey
his or her chosen meaning effectively and acceptably (Ur, 2009, p. 3).

5 Grammatical Structure

The whole complex of linguistic means made use of grouping words into utterances is called a
grammatical structure of the language.
Words, Phrases and Clauses

These are the three central grammatical structures which make up all sentences.

 A phrase consists of one or more words and is a part of a sentence.

 Whilst technically a phrase can be a single word, it's easier to think of multi-word
phrases as being an 'extended word'. We might have about half a million individual words
in our language but we still don't have enough to cover every eventuality. A phrase is our
way out: it's a word with extra identifying or 'modifying' words added to it, e.g. 'the
hissing and spitting black cat'.
 A phrase (one or more words) is the smallest group of words that can occupy a
grammatical 'slot' within a sentence.
 It will always have a coherent and unified meaning (this is because all phrases are
single words or built around a single word. This is the so-called head of the phrase, its
head word.
 The remaining words within a phrase are always grammatically linked to the head
word and function to modify or add extra information to the head word.
 A phrase, if it is made up from more than one word, can always be substituted by a single
word (which will never be quite as full or clear in meaning, but can be a substitute).
 A phrase can never be sufficient to create a sentence or clause on its own (except in
speech when almost anything goes within certain informal contexts).

Clauses
Clauses consist of two or more phrases and, like phrases, form coherent units of meaning.

 A clause tells about action or state (i.e. what a thing is doing or being, e.g. 'He grabbed a
brick'; 'She felt ill'.
 Typically, a clause is composed of a noun phrase (acting as subject) and a verb phrase.
 If something is acted upon by the subject, it fills the grammatical object position.
'Predicate
 The predicate is a term sometimes used to describe all of the clause apart from the
subject, i.e., it tells what the subject is doing (and to what).
  In the above example, the full grammatical subject is, 'Down by the river as the clock
struck one, in a frenzy and with a loud scream, he...' and the predicate is, therefore,
'...grabbed the intruder by the scruff of the neck.'
 The structure of any clause, therefore, is Subject + Predicate.

5 Grammatical Units

What is called a unit?

A Unit is a basic part, many of which bring out the whole. Units make a word or a sentence
complete. Being able to identify the number of separate grammatical units or structures that exist
within a sentence is a central skill that we will pick up as we learn more about grammar. There
Are Five Units of English Language

1. morpheme 2. Word 3. Phrase 4. Clause 5. Sentence

All these five Units make a sentence or a paragraph a meaningful one. Let us see these Units of
English individually.

Morpheme

A morpheme is a meaningful linguistic unit consisting of a word (such as dog) or a word element
(such as the -s at the end of dogs) that can't be divided into smaller meaningful parts. Adjective:
morphemic. Morphemes are the smallest units of meaning in a language. They are commonly
classified as either free morphemes (which can occur as separate words) or bound morphemes
(which can't stand alone as words). Many words in English are made up of a single free
morpheme. For example, each word in the following sentence is a distinct morpheme: "I need to
go now, but you can stay." Put another way, none of the nine words in that sentence can be
divided into smaller parts that are also meaningful.

2.Word

A word converts the group of letters into a meaningful one. A word plays a pivotal role in the
Units of English. A word is a group of letters with a meaning.
Ball, nation, ocean, boy, courage, install, save and organization are words.

The word ball is having four letters b..a..l..l.

The word organization is having twelve letters o..r..g..a..n..i..s..a..t..i..o..n.

In this way all the words are collective forms of few letters. Every word carries a meaning.

3. Phrase

This is another important Unit in the Units of English. A phrase is a group of words without a
subject and a predicate but with a meaning.

The followings are example of phrases.

i. The leader of the group ii. The red ball iii. Your class-mates

iv. Our family-members v. A very distant place

If the most important word in a phrase is a noun it is called a Noun phrase.

If the most important word in the phrase is verb (what is verb? Let us see later.), that phrase is
called Verbal phrase.

The followings are examples for Verbal phrases:

i.To cultivate the lands ii. To study into night iii. To go around the city

iv. To donate liberally v. To be there in time

4. Clause

Clause. In grammar, a clause is the smallest grammatical unit that can express a complete
proposition. A typical clause consists of a subject and a predicate, the latter typically a verb
phrase, a verb with any objects and other modifiers. ... More complex sentences may contain
multiple clauses. A clause is a group of words, with a subject and a predicate having a meaning.
If clause is conveying the complete meaning, it is called Main clause.
The clause You are my best friend conveys the complete meaning. So it is called the Main
clause.
Few more examples for main clauses:

i. His letter is full of errors. ii. The physicians have not yet come.

iii. The school-hour is over. iv. Red-colored cars have very good demand.

v. Indians are religious by nature.

If the meaning of the clause is incomplete, then that clause is called subordinate clause.

Few more examples for subordinate clauses:

i. It is possible only when ii. Unless you score high marks

iii. Since your age is below iv. As the time is not ripe

v. Because of high blood-pressure

Subordinate clauses begin with words such as: Who, whom, whose, which, that, unless, as,
because, when, how, where, what, since, etc..

5. Sentence
A sentence is a group of clauses, conveying a complete meaning. A sentence is the form which
carries all the five Units of English by remaining one of the five Units of English.

Examples:

i. It is possible only when all the members support this project. ( 1 main clause and 1
subordinate clause).
ii. Do not try to be smart ( 1 main clause).
iii. When you come to my house, please, bring that book. (1 main clause and 1
subordinate clause).
 iv. He is intelligent but he is lazy. (2 main clauses).
v. Since the students have not yet paid their fees, the exam was not conducted
yesterday. (1 subordinate clause and a main clause).

Soure: Retrieved from http://www.grammar.com/handbook/grammar.

6 Conclusion

In this term paper, we have tried to discuss about Theoretical framework of grammar, definition
of grammar, grammatical structure, grammatical units, and references of different sources at the
end of this paper. Grammar may be roughly defined as the way a language manipulates and
combines words (or bits of words) in order to form longer units of meaning. There is a set of
rules which govern how units of meaning may be constructed in any language. Grammatical
Structure is the whole complex of linguistic means made use of grouping words into utterances.
A Unit is a basic part, many of which bring out the whole. Units make a word or a sentence
complete. Finally, in this paper w have seen that grammatical structure and grammatical units are
the most important parts of the English Language.
References

Chalker, S., & Weiner, E. (1994). Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar. New York: Oxford

University Press.

Haussamen, B., Dongier, P., Dykstra, P., Kolln, M., Rogers, K., Wheeler, R. (1998). Guidelines

on some questions and answers about grammar. National Council of Teachers of

English.

Mulroy, D. (2004). Reflectionson grammar's demise.Academic Questions, 17(3), 52-58.

doi:10.1007/s12129-004-1018-1

Ur, P. (1988). Grammar Practice Activities:A Practical Guide For Teachers. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.

Ur, P. (2009). Grammar Practice Activities: A Practical Guide for Teachers .Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press.

Grammar. (2017)..Retrieved from http://www.grammar.com/handbook/grammar.