grammar cravings

....... *que Lot to Learn I still got a lot of shiz to learn, I'll admit it

[temple-maiden]

Hey, guys!  Welcome back to my blog.  So today, I’m gonna be discussing with you the appropriate ways on how you point out something, a thing, etc.  I mean like other shopaholics out there?  They tend to say, “How much is that?”, “OMG I want these shoes!”, or “You see those necklaces?  Those are very expensive.”, and so on.  

This week’s blog will enlighten you with regards to the different usage of pertaining to things or what and know why it is used in that way.  If you want to have knowledge about this, just keep on scrolling!

Let’s start with the simplest one.  To begin with, these are the pronouns used in a sentence to point something specific like items in space or in time.  These are the Demonstrative Pronouns.  These can be either singular or plural and also, these replace a noun or noun phrase.  

Demonstrative Pronouns’ 4 kinds in English

near demonstratives | this and these far demonstratives | that and those

Take note: This and that are singular; these and those are plurals.

Examples:

| Good morning!  Can you please sign this paper?

| Last November 2015 was the first time we got into a car accident.  That was really a tragic memory for me.

| I’m sorry but these gifts from our anniversaries are now worthless so I’m returning it back to you.

| There are lots of bags in the store and I’m going to buy one for mom.  I think those are new designs.

To enlighten you more:

This and its plural these refer to people, objects, or ideas close in time or space.

That and its plural those refer to people, objects, or ideas more remote in time or space.

Another thing, this, that, these and those are called Demonstrative Adjectives because they modify nouns, which means they come before nouns in a sentence.  

| This bag is used by mom and me.

| I can’t remember where did I put that pin.

| His friends keep on lingering around these cars because they are about to buy one.

| He didn’t expect the couple to agree on those wedding plans he proposed for them. 

So what’s the difference between Demonstrative Pronouns and Demonstrative Adjectives?

Demonstrative Pronouns are used alone in a sentence in place of a noun while Demonstrative Adjectives are always used with a noun.  

Now we’re on the run down to Interrogative Pronouns, which represent the thing that we don’t know (what we are asking the question about).

Here are the five Interrogative Pronouns

| Who

| Whom

| Whose

| What

| Which

Who and Whom

| Who sang last night?

| Whom did you dance to?

Just to be clear, guys.  Whom seems to play as an object in formal styles. Especially when we use a preposition before it, it is even more formal. Obviously, we don’t normally engage whom in our casual conversations.   

| Whom did you surrender our baggage to? (formal)

| To whom did you surrender our baggage? (very formal)

Or if you want to make it less formal,

| Who did you surrender our baggage to?

Whose

Using ‘whose’ as pronouns

| Whose are these nibs?

| Which did you donate?

| What is the color of your shirt?

 Using ‘whose’ with a noun head

| Whose nibs are these?

| Which stuff toy did you donate?

| What color is your shirt?

What or Which

‘What’ is used when we ask about specific information from a general range of possible answers.

‘Which’ is used when we ask for specific information from a restricted range of possible answers.  

| What’s the largest country in the world?

| What do you mean when you nod your head yes but you want to say no?  (WAHAW see what I did there lol) 

| What if we plan a getaway for their honeymoon?

| This is the menu.  Which food do you like to order?

| Here’s the list of baby names.  Which of these do you prefer?

| Which of these phones are yours?

‘-ever’ as used for emphasis

| Whoever would want to join the camp is welcome.

| Whatever did he say to make her cry like that?

| They’re all fantastic!  Whichever will you choose?

Interrogative Pronouns acting as Adverbs

The pronoun will serve as a subject (who) or object (whom) or show possession (whose).

| Who went to the market? : Who acts as the subject of the verb went.

| Whom should we call? : Whom acts as the object of the verb call.

| Whose position did he fill? : Whose acts as the processor of the noun position.

| Where did Janina buy her makeups? : Where is an adverb modifying the verb get.

The last part of this discussion ends in Relative Pronouns, which introduces a relative clause because it “relates” to the word that its relative clause modifies (who/whom, whoever/whomever, whose, that, and which).

| Last night, my family went to Serendra without me, which is my favorite place to have a staycation.

| Anna Cay, who is 25, had been chosen to be one of the YouTube Ambassadors.

There are two types of Relative Clauses namely, Restrictive (defining) clause and Non-restrictive (nondefining) clause.

Relative pronouns that introduce a restrictive relative clause ARE NOT separated from the main clause by a comma.

Relative Pronouns Used as a Subject of a Restrictive Relative Clause

| This is the house that had a great Christmas decoration.

| It took me a while to get used to people who eat popcorn during the movie.

Relative Pronouns Used as an Object in a Restrictive Relative Clause

| Formal English: This is the man to whom I wanted to speak and whose name I had forgotten.  Informal English: This is the man I wanted to speak to and whose name I'd forgotten.

| Formal English: The library did not have the book that I wanted.   Informal English: The library didn't have the book I wanted.

Relative pronouns that introduce a non-restrictive relative clause ARE separated from the main clause by a comma (in most instances).  

Relative Pronouns Used as a Subject of a Non-restrictive Relative Clause

| The science fair, which lasted all day, ended with an awards ceremony.

| The movie turned out to be a blockbuster hit, which came as a surprise to critics.

Relative Pronouns Used as an Object in a Non-restrictive Relative Clause

| The sculpture, which he admired, was moved into the basement of the museum to make room for a new exhibit.

| The theater, in which the play debuted, housed 300 people.

I know you’re already tired of reading but… you can just twerk off that tiredness like this corgi!

There’s more to go and believe me, you’ll get through this, I promise. 

In other cases, there are some special uses of Relative Pronouns in Restrictive Clauses.

That/Who is used to refer to people in informal language. *”That” may be used to refer to the characteristics or abilities of an individual or a group of people.

| He is the kind of person that/who will never let you down. 

| I am looking for someone that/who could give me a ride to Chicago.

But when you are speaking about a particular person in formal language, who is preferred:

| The old lady who lives next door is a teacher.

| The girl who wore a red dress attracted everybody's attention at the party.

That/Which wherein that is more appropriate than which.

After the pronouns all, any(thing), every(thing), few, little, many, much, no(thing), none, some(thing):

| The police usually ask for every detail that helps identify the missing person.

| Dessert is all that he wants.

After the noun modified by an adjective in the superlative degree:

| This is the best resource that I have ever read!

For further knowledge, I’ll also share with what’s with Antecedents.  I promise this will be the last, guys. *cries in English*   Please have patience in me. 

Antecedent is an earlier clause, phrase or word to which a pronoun, another word or a noun refers back to.

Demonstrative

| You need to work on throwing large, unwieldy objects and catching heavy things. Those are the skills you must acquire to be a successful chainsaw juggler.

Relative

| Principal Corden, whose nose hair curled outside his nostrils, delivered the morning announcements.

 Okay. Is everything clear?  Do you have any confusions?  Just leave me a message and I’ll answer it as soon as I can. Thanks for tuning in to this blog. Wait for more updates because I know you crave to learn other things.  Bye!

[temple-maiden]

In this blog, I’ll continue sharing with you the last two lessons under Nouns.  

Ready the limelight.  Move it to my place. Let’s get started.

            On the 2nd batch of demo teaching, I presented them the Noun Cases.  The case of a word present in a sentence states the position of that word in a sentence. In the English language, there are 5 basic cases of nouns which are, Nominative Case, Objective Case (Accusative Case), Dative Case, Possessive Case (Genitive Case), and Vocative Case.

Nominative Case simply indicates the subject of a sentence. | Hope is nominated as best actress this year.

Objective Case (Accusative Case) indicates direct object (of the verb and of the preposition). | This is one of your collections.

Possessive Case (Genitive Case) states a sentence with a certain preposition like of and also displays apostrophe ‘s. | Joyce’s vlogging camera is very expensive. 

Dative Case indicates indirect object (of the verb) or the recipient of the direct object.  | Her friend handed Victor a letter. 

Vocative Case is used for direct address. | Bryan, can you please get my phone?

For the final topic, let’s learn how to collect and to compound words.

             In Collective Nouns, these are words for single things that are made up of more than one person, animal, place, thing, or idea.  Even though this noun refers to more than one in a group, still, the noun itself is considered a single thing.  

            The staff agrees that people are misusing their cell phones, so its verdict is that phones must not be used during working hours.  

            The staff here stands as a group of people who work in the same place.

            The boat’s crew worked all night to stop the leak.

            Crew is usually used to denote a group of workers, also to describe aircraft and ships personnel.

Further information down below:

Pack | a group of canine animals such as wolves or dogs; also used to describe playing cards and packages containing multiple objects.

Flock | a group of birds; also used to discuss small hooved animals such as sheep or goats

Swarm | a group of insects

Group | a very general term used to describe people, places, things, and animals

Crowd | usually used to describe a group of people

Gang | usually used to describe a group of criminals; also to describe a group of workers, particularly sailors or dock workers

             To use Collective Nouns correctly, note that when the unit is acting in unison, it is appropriate to use the singular.  Also, when the members of the unit are acting as individuals, it is appropriate to use plural forms of verbs and pronouns.  

| Today, Ms. Kennedy’s class takes its SOL test.

  Class – singular collective noun

  Takes – singular verb

  Its – singular pronoun

All the students in Ms. Kennedy’s class are taking the same test at the same time.

| After taking a test, the class start their papers on Shakespeare’s sonnets.

 Class – plural collective noun

 Start – plural verb

 Their – plural pronoun

Although the students are in the same class, they are beginning their own papers on different sonnets written by Shakespeare.

             In Compound Nouns, these words are for people, animals, places, things, or ideas, made up of two or more words.  In many compound nouns, the first word describes or modifies the second word (usually identifies the item.)

I love watching fireflies on warm summer nights.  Fireflies | Closed or Solid Compound Noun

My mother-in-law is the kindest person I know. Mother-in-law | Hyphenated Compound Noun

Let’s be sure to stay somewhere with a swimming pool. Swimming pool | Open or Spaced Compound Noun

Compound nouns can be made with two nouns. Let’s just wait at this bus stop.

Compound nouns can be made with an adjective and a noun. Let’s watch the full moon come up over the mountain.

Compound nouns can be made with a verb and a noun. Be sure to add bleach to the washing machine.

            This is the end of the session in Lexical categories.  But this is not the end of what was discussed in this batch.  I’m now going to welcome you to the world of PRONOUNS yey! 

Pronoun is a word or phrase that can substitute a noun or noun phrase. I | he | she | it | we |they | you | me | us | our | everybody | who | this | those | myself | herself | them

Antecedent is a word or phrase that is represented by another word; the noun replaced by a pronoun. | Richard plays soccer in the courtyard. All of his cousins have gathered there.

Classification of Pronouns

PERSONAL PRONOUNS are words associated with certain persons, animals, things or places. 

Characteristics of Personal Pronouns

1. Three persons (point of view)

1st person – the one(s) speaking | I, me, my, mine, we, us, our, ours | I felt like I was getting drowned with shame and disgrace.

2nd person – the one(s) spoken to | you, your, yours | Sometimes you cannot clearly discern between anger and frustration.

3rd person – the one(s) spoken about | he, him, his, she, her, hers, it, its, they, their, theirs | Mr. Stewart is a principled man. He acts by the book and never lets you deceive him easily.

Point of View - Examples and Definition of Point of View. (2015, March 11). Retrieved from https://literarydevices.net/point-of-view/

2. Three genders

Feminine gender | she, her, hers | She went to the café.

Masculine gender | he, him, his | People was inspired by his speech.

Neuter gender | it, its, they, them, their, theirs | The people were saved because of them.

3. Two numbers

Singular | I, me, my, mine, you, your, yours, he, him, his, she, her, hers, it, its | That passport isn’t hers.  It’s mine.

Plural | we, us, our, ours, you, your, yours, they, them, their, theirs | The family can’t believe that this house will be theirs.

 4. Three cases

Subjective (Nominative) Case is used to replace a common or proper noun as the subject of the sentence; doer of the action in a sentence. | Who will be hosting the event?

Objective (Accusative) Case is a pronoun that is affected by the action of the subject of the sentence; takes the place of the object in the sentence (the noun that receives the action).

Types of Objective Case

Direct Object | indicates the person or thing that receives the action of a verb. | The judges asked to send him to the court. 

Indirect Object | a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase which indicates the person or thing that receives the action of a verb. | As soon as Ji Eun Tak returned from Canada, Kim Shin gave her a hug.

*k-drama feels waaaahhh!

Object of the Preposition | when a pronoun is linked to a preposition (at, in, on, to, with), it becomes a prepositional phrase and is said to be the object of the preposition. | To whom do you wish to give these extra clothes?

Possessive (Genitive) Case | any pronoun that is used to show ownership or possession of something. | Don’t judge a book by its cover.

INDEFINITE PRONOUNS are known to be the largest group of pronouns, used for non-specific things.

Singular | Something went wrong in their relationship.

Plural | Both of them agreed to adopt a dog.

Most indefinite pronouns also function as other parts of speech. | Brylle has a laptop for his work and another (pronoun) for his luxury time. | Please give me another (adjective) glass of cocktail.

Uses apostrophes to indicate possessive case. | The conflict between them is somebody’s intention.

It can also be used as determiners. | We, the children of God can make the world a better place. 

That’s all for the 2nd batch of blog in demo teaching.  Tune in for my next update.  Thank you!

[temple-maiden]

             On the last day of July, our class started its season of demo teaching.  This is a wise way to enhance our capabilities in speaking in front of people and also our training ground.  Of course, every beginning starts with the basics.  As we start this semester, Ms. Claire already handed us the outline and gave everyone in our class the lessons to be discussed.  

             So on the 31st, we had our 1st batch of demo teaching which, as what I’ve said before, started with one of the basics of the English language… NOUNS.  

             To properly start off, let’s begin with the common lesson under nouns. 

             Giving the meaning of Proper Nouns, it simply specifies the names of people, places, and things.  

People’s names

·       Tyler Knott Gregson

·       Alexander

·       Sally

·       Mr. Burnand

·       Aunt Georgina

·       Mrs. Heussaff

·       Uncle Erwan

The names of countries and their capital cities

·       China | Beijing

·       Japan | Tokyo

·       Great Britain | London

·       Italy | Rome

| I am longing to go to Norway to see the northern lights.

| Skylark just discovered a new café called Barkin’ Blends, wherein you can also play with dogs.

             As to the Common Nouns, it specifies the names of people, places, or things in GENERAL.

Persons | children teacher, scientist, mailman, woman, parent, doctor, girl

Animals | lion, ants, tigers, cheetah, sheep, elephants, birds, mice

Places | street, hills, beach, metropolis, city, mountain, river, province

Things | trains, battleship, tree, lichen, music, radio, plant, milk

Ideas | love, ideology, loyalty, fulfillment, patriotism, religion, peace

             From my classmate’s discussion, every proper noun has an equivalent common noun, but it doesn’t mean that every common noun has a proper noun.  Also, Common Nouns only begin with a capital letter if it is placed at the beginning of a sentence while in Proper Nouns, obviously, always start with a capital letter.  

Take note peeps:

             There are times when a word can either be used as a common noun or proper noun and you might get confused as to when you should use the capitalized form.  For example, let’s say, father.  This can either be a common and proper noun.  To get this straight, if common nouns are used as a title or name, that’s the time to make it capitalized, as it takes the place of actual names.

             Now that we’ve already defined what are the proper and common uses of specifying nouns, let’s move on to classifying its purpose. You may question a ‘word’ like, “What is its role?”  “Does it have a purpose?” “Is this word used in a singular or plural form?” “What can be an alternative to make it singular/plural?”  These questions will be answered if you keep on scrolling down (lol).  

In this section, you will learn if a word deserves to be counted or not.  

Let me introduce to you, Countable and Uncountable Nouns! (*applause)

             Countable Nouns are said to be referring to the things that can be counted and with the use of a/an, the, numbers, some/many (if the word is in plural form), many, few/a few, and how many?  They can either be singular or plural. 

a/an | a pen

the | the page

numbers | three babies

some/any (if the word is in plural form) | There are some pastel shirts in the cabinet.

many | There are many YouTubers at the event.

few/a few | There are few seats.

how many? | How many babies do you want?

             Uncountable Nouns are said to be referring to immaterial concepts like love, life, etc.  Also, these nouns are referring to stuff or liquid that cannot be counted like water, sugar, and salt (etc.).  These words are always in singular form.  It can be used with some/any, much, little/a little, and how much.

some/any | There is some blood in the tube.  | There isn’t any chocolates on the tray.  Note: a/an or numbers can’t be used before these words.

much | There isn’t much salt in my fries.

little/a little | They know a little French.

how much | How much do you need?

             Let’s give way to an important part of Uncountable words, the Partitives. Uncountable nouns can be quantified by using partitives, as to refer to a part of a whole. Here are some examples:

o   A glass of water

o   A piece of cheese

o   A loaf of bread

o   A cup of coffee

o   An item of news

o   A bar of soap

             To the nouns that are perceived by the senses and name it as something you can see, hear, touch, smell or taste, it falls under Concrete Noun.  These include people, animals, places, and objects.

People | speech pathologist, lady, Tiarra

Animals | puppy, fish, tiger

Places | Notre Dame, beach

Objects | cupcake, keys, fruit, tea

             To the nouns that we cannot hear, smell, touch, or taste, or should I say intangible things, it falls under Abstract Noun.  They are usually actions, events, ideas, states of mind, feelings.

Actions and events | childhood, October, Friday, war

Ideas | energy, freedom, luck

Conditions | cancer, flu, cold

Feelings | anger, doubt

             Let’s proceed to classify what a ‘word/noun’ is. Knowing its stand in a given sentence.  This was further discussed in Material Noun.  It is the name given to the material substance or things made up of an alloy.  Nouns in this class are almost materials like cloth, air, metal, gold, salt, iron, silver, etc.

Sample sentences:

Cotton dresses are very cheap and comfortable.    

I bought a gold ring for my mother’s birthday.

Calcium is a good mineral for health.

Plastic is made up of many molecules of ethylene.

Material Noun has 4 categories namely, Material nouns from nature, from animals, from plants, and man-made.

Material nouns from nature | water, silver, iron, sand, rock, rain, salt, air, gold, copper, coal, sunlight, earth, etc.

Material nouns from animals | egg, honey, silk, wool, meat, milk, leather, etc.

Material nouns from plants | cotton, oil, jute, medicine, rubber, food, wood, coffee, tea, perfume, etc.

Man-made material nouns | acid, asphalt, cement, chalk, cheese, ebony, felt, paraffin, alcohol, etc.

Of course, we still have rules in using these nouns.  In general, articles such as a, an or the, are not used with material nouns if those are uncountable like:

·      Honey is wholesome food and beneficial to health.

·      Water boils only at 100°C temperature.

On the other hand, articles may be used with material nouns if those are countable such as:

·         I would like to eat a Dutch cheese.

·         It is a very healthy wine.

Use of ‘the’ and ‘some’ can also be done in the following way:

·         The honey in the bottle is mine.

·         I saw there is some milk in the glass.

             After knowing the stand of a noun in a sentence, giving importance to its gender is truly appreciated.  Gender-specific Nouns got your back.  It refers specifically to a male or a female.  When a noun’s meaning makes its gender masculine or feminine, it is considered to be a gender-specific noun.  Gender-specific nouns will give you four types: Masculine Gender, Feminine Gender, Common Gender and Neuter Gender.

Masculine Gender denotes a MALE SEX. These are words for men, boys and male animals. Dad | bull | drake | ram | boar

Feminine Gender denotes a FEMALE SEX.  These are words for women, girls and female animals. actress | waitress | vixen | bitch | sow

Common Gender denotes either a male or a female. soldier | student | cat | whale

Neuter Gender denotes a lifeless thing. It denotes a thing that is neither male nor female. book | pen | room | tree

Note these words, peeps.

Masculine                           Feminine   Father                                      Mother Son                                          Daughter Man                                          Woman Emperor                                   Empress Bachelor                                   Spinster

Animal       Masculine        Feminine Goose          Gander               Goose Fox               Fox                     Vixen Pig                Boar                   Sow Horse           Stallion                Mare Donkey         Jack                    Jenny

Masculine                            Feminine Boy                                           Girl Dog                                           Bitch King                                          Queen Monk                                         Nun Drake                                        Duck

These fingers of mine are tired of typing already and so do you in reading. 

Have a break. Have a 

There’s more to go.  Don’t procrastinate. Read these all NOW!

By adding a syllable (-ess, -ine, -trix, -a, etc.) Author | Authoress Heir | Heiress Shepherd | Shepherdess Poet | Poetess Lion | Lioness Executor | Executrix Testator | Testatrix

By adding –ess after dropping the vowel of the masculine ending Actor | Actress Duke | Duchess Waiter | Waitress Negro | Negress Abbot | Abbess

By a suffix or prefix Man-servant | Maid-servant Grand-father | Grand-mother Land-lord | Land-lady Bull-calf | Cow-calf Pea-cok | Pea-hen

Note: Objects without life are often personified that is spoken of as if they were living beings.  We then regard them as males or females.

·      Masculine gender is applied to object remarkable for strength and violence.

The Sun | Summer | Winter | Death| The sun sheds his beams in rich and poor alike.

·      Feminine gender is sometimes applied to objects remarkable for beauty, gentleness, and gracefulness.

The Moon | The Earth | Spring | Nature | The moon has hidden her face behind a cloud.

             Now, we’re down to identifying a noun’s singular and plural form. This is to note that not all nouns are to be made in plural form just by adding –s.  We’re almost done so please keep on reading.

Regular Nouns and their Plurality

These nouns’ plurality are usually formed just by adding –s and –es at the end of the word. student | students successor | successors pass | passes 

A.     Nouns ending in ch, s, sh, x, or z match | matches miss | misses marsh | marshes fox | foxes buzz | buzzes 

B. Nouns ending in ce, ge, se, or ze lace | laces cage | cages house | houses glaze | glazes 

C. Nouns ending in y (preceded by a consonant) story | stories city | cities

(preceded by a vowel) toy | toys key | keys 

D. Nouns ending in o (preceded by a consonant) potato | potatoes veto | vetoes photo | photos memo | memos

(preceded by a vowel) folio | folios video | videos

There are nouns ending in –o which are either added by –s or –es

avocado | avocados/avocadoes

motto | mottos/mottoes 

Most other nouns ending in o, particularly those Spanish and Italian origin, can form the plural by simply adding –s.

soprano |sopranos

sombrero | sombreros

Nouns ending in –oo

zoo | zoos          

tattoo | tattoos

 E. Nouns ending in f, fe, or ff ‘f’  to ‘v’ transition sheaf | sheaves self | selves

‘fe’ to ‘ves’ transition life | lives wife | wives

‘f’, just by adding –s surf | surfs

 There are nouns ending in –f which are either added by –s or –es

dwarf | dwarfs/dwarves

staff | staffs/staves

 Irregular Nouns and their Plurality

Add or change to –en child | children ox | oxen

-oo- to –ee-  transition foot | feet goose | geese 

-ouse to –ice transition mouse | mice louse | lice

-us to –i transition cactus | cacti focus | foci/focuses fungus | fungi/funguses stimulus | stimuli 

-is to –es transition analysis | analyses crisis | crises thesis | theses oasis | oases ellipsis | ellipses

-ix/-ex to –ces transition appendix | appendices index | indexes/indeces matrix | matrixes/matrices 

-eau to –eaux/-eaus transition               beau | beaux bureau | bureaux/bureaus tableau | tableaux/tableaus

-um, -ium, -us, -on to –a transition stratum | strata               bacterium | bacteria genus | genera phenomenon | phenomena 

-a to –ae transition antenna | antennae/antennas formula | formulae/formulas vertebra | vertebrae vita | vitae

 There are nouns that forms their plurality without changing or adding any affix to them.

Plurality form of hyphenated nouns fathers-in-law runners-up

Numbers and Letters’ Plurality form

3’s b’s %’s

 THERE YOU HAVE IT! Thank you for giving me the patience that I deserve as you continue reading this post.  Lemme have a break and see you on my next blog. Ciao!

[temple-maiden]

     This week, Ms. Claire shared with us the knowledge regarding the style or ways in teaching grammar.  As for me being in the field of English, it is important to have a deeper knowledge since this has a wide range of job opportunities and I am sure that most of the things we will learn can be applied to whatever profession we want to pursue.  To begin with, it is better to start with the basics---better learning will start from basic terms (as for me).  

     Way back in my 2nd year in college, Ms. Candy De Leon taught us the definition of the word “language”.  Now that we are in our 3rd year, my classmates and I are somewhat familiarized with the meaning of this word. Language, as what we have learned, is a system of arbitrary sound and symbols used for human communication.  It is a system because there are rules. 

     Later, the discussion progressed to defining “grammar.”  Grammar is an individual’s linguistic competence.  When we say linguistic competence, it is your unconscious knowledge of language.  Another one is the linguistic performance, the observable use of language.  Linguistic Competence sample: Speakers of language doesn’t really know what they are saying in terms of its components.

     Linguists have two approaches in grammar namely: a) Descriptive grammar, and b) Prescriptive grammar.  It is the way to describe a grammar and prescribe a grammar, respectively.  

     Descriptive grammar attempts to describe the usage of native speakers. Descriptive grammar assumes that the only authority for what exists in a language is what its native speakers accept and understand as part of their language.  A speaker who says “I ain’t doing nothing,” intending to say just that, has produced a sentence which is grammatical in the dialect and register in which he or she is speaking.

     Prescriptive grammar, on the other hand, assumes the existence of better authorities than the usage and judgment of native speakers.  People who write prescriptive grammars adduce better language users (educated speakers, high-class speakers, great writers), better languages (usually Latin) and better information systems (mathematics or predicate calculus) as authorities for preferring one usage over another.  Chapter 1: Introduction to Grammar [PDF file]. Retrieved from http://public.wsu.edu/~gordonl/Grammar_Book/Chapter_1.pdf

     To be familiarized more with language, we are expected to have an encounter with Noam Chomsky, who proposed the theory of Universal Grammar.  Universal grammar is the theoretical or hypothetical system of categories, operations, and principles shared by all human languages and considered to be innate.  From the information I gathered from medicaldaily.com, the theory, however, has long been met with widespread criticism — until now. A new study presents compelling evidence to suggest Chomsky may have been right all along.  Nordquist, R. (2017, July 12). Universal Grammar (UG). Retrieved July 29, 2017, from https://www.thoughtco.com/universal-grammar-1692571 Dovey, D. (2015, December 7). Noam Chomsky’s Theory Of Universal Grammar Is Right; It's Hardwired Into Our Brains. Retrieved July 29, 2017, from http://www.medicaldaily.com/noam-chomskys-theory-universal-grammar-right-its-hardwired-our-brains-364236

     Next up, we go to the way how grammar works.  In professional term, we call it functional grammar, wherein we study the functions of words in a sentence and how and when a specific word is used. 

     All the way through the discussion, we encountered someone again. He introduced himself as Ferdinand de Saussure.  He said he is the Father of Modern Linguistics because he paved the way in studying linguistics (cool guy).

     Another term mentioned was Pedagogical Grammar.  It is simply the way of teaching grammar; an aid to teaching and learning a language. 

Terms… terms… terms… *yawns. Let’s have a break first and just appreciate how satisfying this gif is. 

       We’re already down with two terms before we move to the next step in learning better grammar.  Let’s give the limelight first to Grammaticality.  It is taught to us as the correctness of the grammar.  Meaning, the words used in a sentence should conform to the rules set in a language.

     Limelight to Acceptability please… Okay. This term just wanted you to make a sense in every statement that you will say.  Of course who wouldn’t want to understand a thought that is fully constructed in a senseful way? 

[temple-maiden]

          At some point in our lives, we used to try or do things that we really want wherein others may entitle themselves as “Mr./Ms. Know-it-all”.  Yeah, it’s such a relieving feeling that for some reason you tend to have a mindset that you slay in doing something (or maybe much thankful for having purpose above this big blue marble).  Luckily, you are so much blessed if you tend to do it on a daily basis and much better if you improve in that field.  

          But what if one day… some of the knowledge you fed up in your mind were completely, unbelievably W-R-O-N-G (*ouch).  You may feel that asteroids just hit your inner soul and everything in you is on fire.  Random thoughts may happen which may lead to anxiety, depression, etc. (seems exag but let’s be realistic here) because all of a sudden you thought you know evahrythaaaang.  This is hard to accept but that’s what life brings us.  As the saying goes “Sometimes you have to accept the fact that certain things will never go back to the way they used to be.”  We don’t have other choice, people, but to move forward.  The clock is ticking and every second must be used to gain teachings for us to feed our memory to keep our mind healthy.    

          Our class had a diagnostic test with Ms. Claire in Advanced English Grammar class.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend her class because of sudden headache.  So going back, I asked my friends how it was and most of them told me that they thought it was easy enough for them to answer that 25-item test, checking statements if it is in its correct form or correcting it if they seem wrong.  One of my friends told me that practically some of them got 0-2 points.  This made me sad and happy at the same time because our class still gathered new information which can improve our knowledge in English (cheers to Ms. Claire!!).

          Later that session, our professor shared some MIND BLOWING stuff wherein you would think that after all this time, you thought you are using English language correctly (see that drama there lol)… but then, Ms. Claire happens.  Thank God for blessing us with her!  She is the key to unlock our minds for more unbelievable lore.  Get ready with your pen and paper, guys. Your minds will blow in 3… 2… 1…

| stationAry and stationEry | There’s a difference between with the “a” form and with the “e” form.  The first word means not moving; changing while the latter one means materials (such as paper, pens, and ink) that are used for writing or typing

| furniture, stationery, mail, jewelry, luggage, and equipment | Not only people have the right to stay single maybe for apparent reason/s but also in words. The words stated are some who really decided to stay single in its form.

| hand deliver | We use this word instead of hand carry because aside from being redundant, obviously you can’t carry something using your feet.

Prepositions | on | used when stating an exact date (March 29th, June 4, October 18, etc.)

| in | used when stating a year or month

| at | used when stating an exact place

| alright | informal; states that something is satisfactory or acceptable

| all right | formal; definite or unquestionable

| regardless | formal

| irregardless | informal; acceptable

| full-fledged | instead of full-pledged

| staff | used as a collective noun

| staff member | used to identify a single person

| I prefer company A to company B | rather than company A than company B. (You read that right.)

| pastime | used as a single word

| look forward to | instead of look forward for

| biannual | happening twice in a year

| biennial | happening once in every two years (Heard these words before? No? Me too.)

| full-time | stands as one unit so it should be hyphenated

| routine | let’s give a no-no to routinary

| can | pertains to the ability or skill

| could | pertains to possibility

| less | non-countable nouns

| few | countable nouns

I cope with | is the correct one. Two prepositions already exist in cope up with so no to redundancy, people.

| “no parking on either side” | Don’t you dare use “no parking on both sides.”  JUST DON’T.

| input | is still used in its past tense form because inputted is not welcome in the grammar world.

| apprise | to inform

| appraise | to decide the value of something

| unaware | used as an adjective. (That girl is unaware of this environment.)

| unawares | used as an adverb. (They were caught unawares.)

| insofar | Yes, you read that right.

| lay low I instead of lie-low

| withhold | not withold

| “with regard to” and “as regards the” | These are welcome to the grammar world.

WE’RE ALMOST DONE, PEOPLE.  HERE’S THE WORD that made our minds go round and round, shake our inner soul and everything in between.

| INASMUCH | Let me get this straight---it is really written as one word.

There you have it.  Maybe some of you already know what is stated above but these info is worth sharing especially to all English major peeps.  I still look forward to more knowledge that our professor will teach us.  It will truly enhance our ideas as we continue our battle in this field we’re walking through.  Let’s just aim high until we become one of the best in our desired profession. Cheers!!  

[temple-maiden]

one of Ms. Claire’s scholar