Grammar course

Grammar Course Syllabus 

Dr. Nanhee Byrnes’ Personal Journey to Mastering English Grammar

Are you a non-native English speaker who feels stuck in your progress? You're not alone. Many believe that pronunciation is the only hurdle, but you'll likely need to retool your English grammar as much as your pronunciation. Without a strong grasp of grammar, you'll find it incredibly difficult to make progress in your reading and writing, and you'll eventually hit a wall in your listening and speaking skills too.

Think about it: to truly understand and speak English with its natural rhythm, you need to be able to hear the almost inaudible "grammar words." In natural native speech, many grammar words like "of," "to," "have," "the," and "a" often reduce to a mere "schwa" sound. Without a deep understanding of grammar, you won't be able to decipher what you're hearing. Truly, grammar is the very foundation of English.

This grammar course is based on my grammar book, which has been in development for decades. While many non-native speakers aim to speak like a native, as a student of philosophy, my personal goal has always been to write like a learned native. The discipline of philosophy demands precision in language above all else. As a Ph.D. student at an American university, I quickly realized that the English grammar I learned in Korea was simply inadequate for crafting graduate-level philosophy essays.

Despite my grammar knowledge, which impressed native speakers (who often aren't explicitly taught grammar in school), I struggled with how to truly utilize that knowledge, especially in terms of syntax and semantics. It's incredible how a tiny change in a word can dramatically alter the meaning of an entire sentence. This realization fueled my desire to write a grammar book from a syntax and semantics perspective.

The AI Revelation: Why Expertise Still Matters

Just as my grammar book neared completion, AI changed everything in English learning, making it seem as if grammar had become dispensable. I questioned the worth of my work; after all, couldn't one simply ask AI any grammar question?

However, after using AI for some time, I ironically discovered something crucial: AI's grammar knowledge is often inadequate and easily confused. This made me realize that AI is simply a large language model that imitates, not an expert system like a seasoned grammarian. This understanding reinvigorated my passion, and I've since reworked this material into a comprehensive grammar course.

This course isn't just about knowledge; through lectures and interactive questions, it provides the key to unlock your full potential in English.

Introducing Dr. Byrnes’ English Grammar Course

Welcome to Dr. Byrnes’ English Grammar for Composition! Forget the overwhelming maze of grammar rules you've encountered in traditional textbooks. This course isn’t about drilling countless rules into your head only to immediately list all the exceptions—as many grammar books do. After all, no rule truly sticks if exceptions are treated as just as valid.

Instead, this course teaches grammar based on seven inviolable principles of agreement—such as subject-verb agreement in number—and shows how these principles function when you actually compose sentences. Yes, exceptions exist, but they make sense once you understand the logic behind them. That logic begins with these three key branches of grammar:

• Morphology: How words are formed and change.
  
  

• Syntax: How words are arranged to form proper sentences.
  
  

• Semantics: What those sentences actually mean.
  
  

Syntax vs. Semantics: The Real Story

Think of syntax as the blueprint of a building—its foundation, walls, and roof. Semantics, on the other hand, is the purpose of the building. Is it a home? An office? A museum? The building's function determines whether it’s being used "correctly."

Likewise, a sentence’s correctness depends on whether its meaning aligns with our understanding of the world.

For example:

• "She scratched her noses" is incorrect—even though the syntax is fine—because humans have only one nose. Our mental model of reality flags the sentence as wrong.
  
  

• "Galileo said that the Earth moves around the sun" is correct, even though it technically bends a tense rule. Its meaning coheres with our accepted scientific model of the universe, and that truth overrides the minor grammatical technicality.
  
  

In English, meaning often trumps strict rule-following. That’s why so many "exceptions" exist: the message matters more than rigid adherence to form.

Why This Course Is Unique

Dr. Byrnes’ grammar course stands apart because it was developed by a non-native English speaker whose sole mission was to master English grammar with syntactic sophistication—enough to write and speak fluently at the American college level and beyond.

Most grammar books are written by native speakers who often overlook the struggles non-natives face. For instance, native speakers might confuse "your" and "you’re," or write things like "must of" instead of "must have." But they almost never struggle with article usage ("a," "an," "the") or verb tenses the way non-natives do. Why? Because they absorb those grammar patterns by ear—through years of listening to the rhythm of spoken English. But to non-native ears, these grammar words often sound like a mumble.

This course reconstructs English grammar by focusing on what really matters for non-native speakers to communicate clearly and effectively. For example:

• Why is "I like chicken and fish" correct, but "I like dog and horse" sounds wrong?
  
  To answer this, we teach how nouns are used: whether they refer to things as discrete items or mass concepts.
  
  

In short, this course teaches grammar through the lenses of syntax and semantics, making the rules not only memorable but meaningful.

Part I. Foundations

Parts of speech 

1. Parts of speech in sentence elements

2. Nouns

1. Noun classification

1. Common nouns

2. Proper nouns

2. Noun countability

1. Countable nouns 

2. Uncountable nouns

3. Noun number

1. Singular/plural nouns

2. Irregular plural nouns  

4. Both countable and uncountable use

1. Countable nouns used as uncountable nouns

2. Uncountable nouns used as countable nouns

3. Determiners

1. Determiner classification

2. Indefinite determiners

1. Indefinite articles, a/an

2. Indefinite quantifiers

1. Singular countable

2. Plural

3. Uncountable

4. Plural/uncountable

3. Definite determiners

1. Definite article, the

2. Possessives/demonstratives

4. Determiner order

4. Pronouns

1. Pronoun classification

1. Personal pronouns

2. Reflexive/emphatic pronouns

3. Reciprocal pronouns

4. Indefinite pronouns

1. Singular

2. Plural

3. Both singular and plural 

5. Demonstrative pronouns

6. Relative pronouns

7. Interrogative pronouns

2. Pronoun number, gender and case

1. Subjective case

2. Objective case

3. Possessive case

5. Verbs

1. Verb classification

1. Auxiliary verbs: do/have/be

2. Modal auxiliary verbs

1. Epistemic modality

2. Deontic modality

3. Past tense with modal verbs

3. Non-finite verbs (Verbals)

1. Infinitives

2. Gerunds

3. Participles

4. Phrasal verbs

2. Verb tense

1. Simple

2. Progressive

3. Perfect

4. Perfect progressive

3. Verb mood 

1. Indicative 

2. Interrogative

3. Imperative 

4. Exclamatory 

5. Subjunctive 

4. Verb voice

1. Active 

2. Passive

6. Adjectives

1. Adjective classification

1. Attributive

1. Adjective order

2. Postpositive required

2. Predicative

3. Nominal

4. Past participle vs present participle

2. Degree of comparison

1. Positive

2. Comparative

3. Superlative

7. Adverbs

1. Adverb classification

2. Adverb degree

3. Adverb placement

8. Prepositions

1. Preposition classification

2. Preposition use

1. Time 

2. Place 

3. Direction

3. Fixed phrases

9. Conjunctions

1. Conjunction classification

1. Coordinating conjunctions

2. Correlative conjunctions

3. Subordinating conjunctions

10. Words, phrases and clauses

Phrases

Noun phrases

Adjective phrases

Adverb phrase

Clauses

Noun clauses

Adjective clauses

Adverb clauses

Word order

11. English, an analytic language

12. Verb complement order

Perfect intransitive verbs

Imperfect intransitive verbs

Perfect transitive verbs

Di-transitive verbs

Imperfect transitive verbs

Flexibility of verb types

13. Inversion

Negative constructions

Conditional Forms

14. Clause order

Simple sentence

Compound Sentences

Complex Sentences

Compound-Complex Sentences

Part II Agreement Principles

1. Noun-determiner agreement in countability and specificity

1. Noun countability, number and specificity

2. Unspecific things

1. Indefinite article with singular countable nouns

1. When Nouns Modify Nouns: Indefinite Article Rules

2. Zero article with plural/uncountable nouns

3. Zero article with uncountable nouns

4. Indefinite quantifiers’ number/countability

1. Only with singular countable nouns

2. Only with plural countable nouns

3. Only with uncountable nouns

4. Both with plural and uncountable nouns

5. Exceptions

1. Indefinite article with proper nouns

2. Zero article with singular countable nouns

6. Noun Countability Shifts: How Meaning Changes

1. Countable Nouns Used as Uncountable Nouns

2. Uncountable Nouns used as Countable noun

3. Specific things with the definite article

1. Grammar errors with the definite article, the

2. Definite articles with proper noun

3. Definite article necessary

1. Previously introduced things

2. Unique things

3. Specific things in context

4. Restrictively qualified nouns

5. Idiomatic use of the definite article

2. Noun-noun/pronoun agreement in number

1. Identity relationship

1. After linking verbs

2. Appositives

3. Antecedents

2. Possessive relationship

3. Agreement with tricky nominals 

1. Compounds

2. Collective nouns

3. Indefinite pronouns

3. Pronoun agreement in case 

1. Subjective vs objective case

1. Compounds

2. Appositives

3. After but, than, and as

4. Interrogative pronouns

5. Relative pronouns

2. Possessive case

1. Apostrophe s use

2. Semantic subject of gerund

4. Subject-Verb Agreement in Number

1. Identifying the subject

1. Intervening modifiers

2. Inverted sentence

3. Compound Subjects

2. Tricky nouns and pronouns

1. Irregular nouns

1. Always plural nouns

2. Singular and plural nouns in the same form

2. Indefinite pronouns

3. Interrogative/relative pronouns

4. Nominal adjectives

5. Collective nouns

1. American usage

6. Number indicating words/phrases

1. Both singular and plural in the same form

2. The number of vs a number of

3. Beyond Logic: "More than One"

5. Verb tense agreement 

1. Tense and aspect

2. Tense comparison

1. Present simple vs present progressive

1. Non-progressive verbs

2. Present simple for future event

2. Past simple vs past progressive

3. Present perfect vs simple past

4. Simple past vs past perfect

5. Simple future vs future perfect

6. Perfect vs Perfect progressive 

3. Tense shift vs tense consistency

1. Unwarranted tense shift

1. Time Clauses 

2. Tense shift necessary

4. Verb tense and time marker agreement

1. Definite time markers

2. Indefinite time markers

3. Both uses

5. Backshifting in indirect speech

1. Indirect questions

2. Exceptions to backshifting

3. Context dependency

4. Tense shift with modal verbs

6. Verbal tense

1. Simple vs perfect verbal tenses

6. Subjunctive verb mood agreement

1. Subjunctive present

1. Subjunctive present and tense

2. Obligatory expressions

3. Fixed expressions that require subjunctive present

4. Subjunctive present vs simple present

2. Subjunctive past

1. Hypothetical: possible vs counterfactual

2. Subjunctive past construction

3. Indicative conditional vs subjunctive conditional

4. Subjunctive past vs simple present

5. Fixed expressions that require subjunctive past

3. Subjunctive past perfect

1. Subjunctive past perfect construction

2. Subjunctive past perfect and tense

4. Mixed subjunctive conditional

7. Modifier agreement

1. Agreement in degree of comparison 

1. Degree of comparison and intensifier 

2. Domain of comparison

3. Illogical comparison

2. Modifier and modified word agreement

1. Misplaced modifier

2. Dangling modifier

3. Squinting modifier

Part III Style: Dos and Don’ts

1. Style of formal English

2. Comma rules

1. No commas required

2. Restrictive vs. nonrestrictive modifier

3. Comma necessary

4. Semicolon Rules

5. Colon rules

3. Parallelism

1. Parallelism necessary

2. Incorrect use of parallelism 

4. Bad Sentences

1. Non-unity

1. Run-ons

2. Fragments

3. Choppy Sentences

4. Distracting/too many details

5. Ideas not weighted correctly

2. Poor word choice

1. Vague words

2. Collocation Errors

3. Informal words/phrases

4. Confusion in similar-Sounding Words 

5. Incorrect connotation of words

6. Repeating the same words

7. Ambiguous antecedent

3. Mixed construction

1. Illogical Predication

2. Using adverbials as nouns

4. Faulty Shift

1. Shifting necessary

2. Faulty shift in person and number

3. Faulty shift in tense

4. Faulty shift in voice

5. Faulty shift in mood

6. Faulty Negation

5. Incomplete construction

1. Omission of grammar particles acceptable

2. Omission of grammar particles unacceptable

Grammar videos

Noun-determiner agreement 

Countable nouns vs uncountable nouns

Definite article use 

Idiomatic use of THE

Indefinite Quantifiers

    Quantifiers used only with singular countable nouns

    Quantifiers used only with plural countable nouns

    Quantifiers used only with uncountable nouns

    Quantifiers used both with plural countable nouns and with uncountable nouns

Determiner Order