Grammar course

Grammar Course Syllabus 

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