Table of contents:

1. Justification for teaching grammar ................................................................................................................................ 1

2. Nouns................................................................................................................................................................................. 2

3. Pronouns ........................................................................................................................................................................... 4

4. Prepositions ...................................................................................................................................................................... 6

5. Adjectives .......................................................................................................................................................................... 7

6. The Article ...................................................................................................................................................................... 10

7. Connectives ..................................................................................................................................................................... 11

8. Verbs ............................................................................................................................................................................... 12

9. Adverbs ........................................................................................................................................................................... 14

10. The Sentence ................................................................................................................................................................... 16

11. The Phrase ...................................................................................................................................................................... 17

12. The Clause ...................................................................................................................................................................... 18

13. Tenses .............................................................................................................................................................................. 19

14. References ....................................................................................................................................................................... 22

Justification for teaching grammar

Grammar is known as syntax or rules to base on to construct the meaning of language in the right way. In other words, it means that
words, phrases and clauses are structurally organised in a sentence so as to make meaning for communication. For instance, the speaker
has to use past tense when they talk about an event that happened yesterday or use simple future tense to mention about a future event.
Or joining words and phrases together by using conjunctions to enhance the meaning in expressing to listener.

Grammar teaching is one of the important aspects in teaching a language. Imagine that teaching grammar is similar to building the
foundation and frame of a house. If the foundation and the frame are stable, we can build more storeys and add more detailed design to
it and vice versa. Similarly, teaching grammar has to be taken seriously and performed at the beginning in teaching a language.

Since it is one of the difficult language aspects to teach well, teachers have to educate children from the early age. It does not mean
explaining the forms or rules to them as they are too abstract for them to understand. The best approach to teach grammar is by talking
with them. Using scaffolding or recasting strategies during social interactions will support young children to gradually acquire language
and develop their grammatical concept. Hence, it builds a preparation for transition to written language at school since there is a
difference between written language and spoken language.

The following pages are ten grammar maps for nouns, pronouns, prepositions, adjectives, the article and connectives. Moreover,
definition of each grammar is provided as well as examples and sentence examples.

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 Nouns

A name of somebody or something, which

also includes things cannot be seen, heard,
touched or smelled.

Concrete nouns Abstract nouns Countable nouns Uncountable nouns

Common nouns Proper nouns Beauty, kindness, Computers, beds, Water, flour, tea,
confidence, Catholics children, cabinets coffee, medicine

Chair, student, Tom, Mary,

hand, towel Australia. Kindness is a good quality. My computer is I put too much
very old. salt in my soup.

Please put the His name is Tom.

towel on the
table!

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 Nouns

Singular nouns Plural nouns

Hat, coat, doll, ring

Irregular nouns

I love her new hat. Children, fungi, women, deer

Regular nouns Mary loves children a lot.

Ends in Ends in f, fe Ends in o Ends in y Collective noun

s,x,z, ch, sh

Leaves, loaves, English word Foreign word A consonant A vowel Litter, school, gang,
Jazzes, watches, wives before y before y class, pile
boxes
Tomatoes, Pianos,
I would like to potatoes, violas, Babies, stories, Valleys, Mondays, My friends dog just
How many boxes do buy 5 loaves of heroes, radios, teddies Kelleys had a litter of five
you have? bread. echoes photos puppies.

There are 6 There are 3 valleys

I like to eat The shop sells teddies in the in this picture.
tomatoes. different kinds box.
of pianos.
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 Pronouns

Substitute for nouns that do not repeat the

names of persons or things once have
established the identity.

Personal pronouns Demonstrative Indefinite Relative

Possessive
pronouns pronouns pronouns
pronouns

Subject Object my mine Who Whom

This These Anybody, nobody,
pronouns pronouns your yours somebody,
That Those Which That
his his everybody,
her hers anything,
its its something,
I, you, Me, your, our ours How are you nothing, none He is the guy who
he/she, it, we, him/her, us, their theirs doing these days? bought me flowers.
they them

That book is
There is nothing to
They do not mine.
We are not eat around here.
want me to
allowed to do
leave.
this.

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 Pronouns

Reflexive Emphatic Interrogative Quantity Distributive Reciprocal

0pronouns pronouns pronouns pronouns pronouns pronouns

Myself, Who, what, One, two, three,, Each, every, Each other,
Myself, yourself,
yourself, which, whose, both, all, several neither, either one another,
himself, herself
himself, herself, whom the other
itself, ourselves,
All of us agree Neither I nor he
I myself be What is the matter I and he helped
with you on this likes doing the
He and myself blamed for the with her? one another.
idea. dishes.
go to the mistake.
hospital.

5
 Prepositions

Show the relationships between nouns and

nouns, nouns and pronouns, pronouns and
pronouns in the same sentence.

More than one word

One word

In front of, next to, in

Position in place Position in time behind, outside of, on
Other top of

On, at, in, above, At, in, on, since, by, Of, off, except, about,
below, underneath, from, to, after, There is a long queue
into, over, with, within,
before, behind, since, till, until in front of me.
without
between, beside

It is only one week to She cannot live

The dog is on the
Christmas. without him.
chain.

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 Adjectives

Describes nouns and pronouns and numbers

are adjectives as well.

Adjectives of degree
Uses to compare things

Regular Irregular

Good better best

One syllable More than one
Bad worse worst
Little less least
Beautiful more beautiful most beautiful Much more most
Big bigger biggest
Generous more generous most generous
Tall taller tallest
Careful more careful most careful
Fast faster fastest This dish tastes better
Peaceful more peaceful most peaceful
Long longer longest than the previous one.

Melbourne is more peaceful

Which river on Earth is the
than my city.
longest?

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 Other types of adjectives

Descriptive Possessive Numerical Demonstrative Distributive Interrogative Interrogative

Adjectives Adjectives Adjectives Adjectives Adjectives Adjectives Adjectives

New, old, My, your, One, two, This, that, Each, every, Which, All, any, few,
thin, pretty, our, his, her first, second, these, those either, neither what, whose anyone, each,
several,
everyone,
She is such This is his toy. Both of us came Look at those Every student must Whose purse is everything
a pretty girl. late to the show. animals! come to class on this?
time!
There are
several people
in this room.

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 Order of Adjectives

Size Shape Color Age Origin Material Purpose Noun

What is the What shape What is the How old Where is it What is it What is it used Objects/ Things/
Definition
size/height? is it? color? is it? from? made of? for? Place/ Persons

Big Round Red New British Leather Selling Purse

Small Rectangular Green Old Australian Plastic Flower Vase
Examples
Skinny Long White Modern Italian Silk Wedding Dress
Tiny Triangular Reddish Antique Chinese Glass Decorating Ornament

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 The Article

Specifies nouns. It may often be

taken as an adjective.

Definite Indefinite

The
Begin with a consonant Begin with a vowel

A An
Singular noun Plural noun

A dog, a TV, a An umbrella, an

The child, the computer, The children, the people,
desk, a pen apple, an eagle
the bottle, the lamp the books, the clothes

I want to buy a Can you give me

The child is sitting The elephants in this zoo
dog. an apple?
alone in the park. are performing over
there.

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 Connectives

Connects words, phrases, clauses or sentences to

add meaning and make communication smooth.

Additional Exemplify and

Temporal Causal - Comparative
conditional show results

And, also,
First, second, However, besides, furthermore, As a result, for
third.., next, then, Therefore, instead, on the similarly, apart
consequently, as a instance, therefore,
in the end, next other hand, from that, moreover such as, that is,
time, afterwards, result, because of whereas, yet
this, nevertheless accordingly
soon, now
Jack is a famous
Today she decides pianist. Apart
I am doing my Because of the from that, he is She has lots of pets
to go out instead of
homework now. delayed bus, I also a good such as a dog, a cat, a
staying at home.
came late for painter. parrot, a guinea pig
work. and two rabbits.

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 Verbs

Is a doing word or action word.

Regular

Action Sensing Saying Relating

Play, eat, See, smell, Cry, say, Is, are,

look, buy hear, taste ask, suggest was, were,
have, had

I used to play I saw a Some people cry

in park mouse at the more easily than I was swimming
everyday caf today. when mom called
others.
after school. me yesterday.

12
 Verbs

Irregular Phrasal Modal Auxiliary Participles

Go went, pay- Turn up, put off, Might, can, ought, Helper verbs: Main part of verb:
paid, sing-sang take off should, will was, is, will be go, do, sleep, run

Her expression They have taken I think there ought I will be going to The baby is
went from surprise 15% off for jeans. to be some better jog at this time sleeping in his
to joy in the blink way of moving tomorrow. crib.
of an eye. this table.

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 Adverbs

Modifies and adds meaning to a verb, adjective

or another adverb.

Manner Time Place Degree Frequency

Yesterday, few Here, over,

Fast, slowly, well, Too, very, too, Always, usually,
months ago, below, there,
easily pretty, quite, often, frequently,
tomorrow, last week where nearly, so rarely, never

She runs as fast as her

legs can carry her since My mom bought Why dont we go I did not take so The service was so
she did not want to be me some beautiful there and see what is long as we expected. terrible that I shall
late for the appointment. lilies yesterday. inside? never come there
again.

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a
Time
Point in time: yesterday,
two weeks ago, tomorrow.
Duration in time: forever,
days, weeks, ages.
Frequency: often, usually,
always, never.
Point in time: She invites
me to her birthday party
tomorrow.
Duration in time: I have not
seen my family for months.
Frequency: He always
looks neat and clean - even
if he is a little out of style.
Adverbs
Adverbs of circumstances
Place
Point in space: in, on, over,
in front of, beneath.
Direction: toward, to, across,
past.
Distance: miles, foot, meter.
Point in space: The money
was hidden beneath the
floorboards.
Direction: The last time I
saw her she was headed
towards the beach.
Distance: He flew thousand
miles just because he
wanted to see his mother.
Manner
Quality: silently, deeply,
solemnly, quietly.
Means: with, by.
Comparison: like, unlike,
more than.
Degree: too, extremely,
almost, very.
Quality: He sat quietly
concentrating on doing his
homework.
Means: I went there by bus.
Comparison: The mountain I
visited was shaped like a cone
and was so tall that its summit
was lost in the clouds.
Degree: My friend visits his
girlfriend almost everyday.
Cause
Reason: due to, because,
because of.
Purpose: for, for the purpose
of.
Behalf: on behalf of.
Reason: Because of the
sickness, she could not join
the play.
Purpose: I bought a big
cake for my sisters
birthday.
Behalf: If you do
something on behalf of
someone, you do it for that
person.
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 The Sentence

Is made up of words, groups of words, clauses

and phrases, all in an infinite number of possible
configurations that contains a complete verb.

Simple sentences Compound sentences Complex sentences

Subject Verb My best friend took piano lessons for

Subject Verb Subject Verb Lets go back to the restaurant
sixteen years, and today she is an
Object Preposition where we had our first date.
accomplished performer.
He smiled. Object A dependant clause: where
Reptiles do we had our first date.
not fly. An independent clause: Lets
The music is too go back to the restaurant.
loud for my ears.

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 The Phrase

Is a group of meaning making words that

contain no complete verbs. They stand together
as a single unit, typically as part of a sentence.

The noun phrase The prepositional The adjectival The verb phrase The adverbial
phrase phrase phrase

A good machine, a
nice weather, the After the dinner, Very beautiful, a A participle An infinitive Every time, most
poor boys. behind you, under big party, the last carefully, as.
the bridge. one.
Going for a walk. To eat, to drink, to
That is my cousin, Taking a break. sleep, to go.
a talented designer. Buy that hat, the last Dancing with my
We will go to the cinema She looks terrified
after the dinner. one. friends. that her face is as
I think it is time to white as a sheet.
leave now.
Going for a walk in
the morning is good
for your health.

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 The Clause

Is a word or group of words that contains a

finite verb and its subject. It is a unit of meaning
that gives a message.

Independent clause Dependent clause Embedded clause

Is a group of words with Is a group of words with a Is in the middle of another

a subject and a predicate.
It can stand by itself as a
simple sentence.
Smoking is very harmful
to health so that smokers
should stop smoking.
subject and a verb. It does not
express a complete thought so
it is not a sentence and can't
stand alone.
My plants died because I did
not water them regularly.
clause. It is often used in a
sentence to create a level of
sophistication and detail.
Those who break the
law will be prosecuted.

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There are three tenses which are present, past
and future.
Present
Simple: read/ reads, insist/ insists.
Continuous: is/ are reading, is/
are insisting.
Passive: is/ are read, is/ are
insisted.
Simple: The child insists on
going to the supermarket with her
parents.
Continuous: They are reading
the books now.
Passive: Many stories are read to
her every night before she goes to
bed.
Verb Tenses
Present Tense: to describe things
that are happening right now, or
things that are continuous.
Present perfect
Simple: have/ has read.
Continuous: have/ has been reading.
Passive: have/ has been read.
Simple: I have read so many books
that I could not keep count.
Continuous: She has been reading
since she was five years old.
Passive: The message has been read
by her parents.
Present conditional
Simple: should/ would read.
Continuous: should/ would be reading.
Passive: would/ should be read.
Simple: You should read this
book by tonight.
Continuous: Everyone should be
reading regularly.
Passive: This journal article
should be read by today.
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To describe things that have already happened.
Past
Simple: read, looked.
Continuous: was/ were
reading, was/ were looking.
Passive: was/ were read,
was/ were looked.
Simple: I read an entire book last
night.
Continuous: At this time
yesterday, I was reading a novel.
Passive: How did I know if my
email was read or not?
Past Tense
Past Perfect
Simple: had read.
Continuous: had been reading.
Passive: had been read.
Simple: By the time she was ten,
she had read at least 100 books.
Continuous: I had been reading for
at least a year before my brother
learned to read.
Passive: 100 books had been read
by the time she was ten.
Past Conditional
Simple: should/ would have read.
Continuous: should/ would have
been reading.
Passive: would/ should have been
read.
Simple: I should have read
this book last week.
Continuous: She should not
have been reading his letter.
Passive: These are 20 books
that really should have been
read by now.
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 Future Tense

To describe things that have yet to happen.

Simple form Continuous form Passive voice

Shall/ will read, shall/ Shall/ will be reading, shall/ Shall/ will be read,
will call. will be calling. shall/ will be called.

This year I will read as I will be reading this novel soon. I am worried that my messages
much as I can. will not be read by him.

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References:
Zeegers, M. (2013). Grammar matters. South Melbourne, VIC: Oxford University Press.

Australia Catholic University (Producer). (2017). Tenses in English [PDF]. Retrieved from
https://leo.acu.edu.au/pluginfile.php/2399670/mod_resource/content/1/Tense%20Chart.pdf

Australia Catholic University (Producer). (2017). EDLA 167 Tutorial 11 -2017 Clauses and Report Genre [Powerpoint].
Retrieved from https://leo.acu.edu.au/pluginfile.php/2399670/mod_resource/content/1/Tense%20Chart.pdf

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