10 basic English grammar rules to remember

 

1. Subject-verb agreement: The verb in a sentence must agree with the subject in number (singular or plural).
   Example: The dog barks loudly. (singular subject, singular verb)
   Example: The dogs bark loudly. (plural subject, plural verb)

2. Pronoun-antecedent agreement: The pronoun in a sentence must agree in number and gender with the noun it is referring to (antecedent).
   Example: The student handed in their homework. (Incorrect, "their" is plural while "student" is singular)
   Example: The student handed in his homework. (Correct, "his" agrees with the singular antecedent "student")

3. Use of articles: A, an, and the are used before nouns to indicate whether the noun is specific or unspecific.
   Example: I saw a dog in the park. (Indefinite article, referring to any dog in general)
   Example: I saw the dog in the park. (Definite article, referring to a specific dog)

4. Correct use of tenses: The tense of a verb should match the time frame of the action being described.
   Example: I will go to the store. (Future tense)
   Example: I went to the store. (Past tense)

5. Capitalization: The first word of a sentence and proper nouns (names of specific people, places, or things) should be capitalized.
   Example: The sun is shining today. (first word of sentence capitalized)
   Example: I live in New York City. (Proper nouns "New York" and "City" capitalized)

6. Punctuation: Use punctuation marks such as commas, periods, and semicolons to separate clauses and phrases in a sentence.
   Example: I went to the store, but they were closed. (comma used to separate clauses)
   Example: I can't decide if I want pizza or pasta. (comma used to separate items in a list)

7. Use of prepositions: Prepositions show the relationship between a noun or pronoun and other words in a sentence.
   Example: The cat is under the bed. (Preposition "under" shows the relationship between "cat" and "bed")
   Example: I am thinking about going to the park. (Preposition "about" shows the relationship between "thinking" and "going")

8. Correct use of homophones: Words that sound the same but have different meanings should be used correctly in a sentence.
   Example: Their going to the beach tomorrow. (Incorrect, "their" is possessive pronoun, "there" is location)
   Example: They're going to the beach tomorrow. (Correct, "they're" is contraction of "they are")

9. Parallel structure: When listing items or ideas in a sentence, they should be in the same grammatical form.
   Example: I like to read books, watch movies, and to listen to music. (Incorrect, last item "to listen" is not parallel to "read" and "watch")
   Example: I like to read books, watch movies, and listen to music. (Correct, all items are parallel)

10. Avoiding sentence fragments and run-on sentences: A sentence should have a subject and a verb and convey a complete thought. A run-on sentence is a sentence that has two or more independent clauses that are not joined properly.
    Example: I went to the store, I bought some bread. (Run-on sentence, two independent clauses not joined properly)
    Example: I went to the store. I bought some bread. (Corrected, two independent clauses separated by a period)
    Example: Running through the park. (Fragment, missing subject or verb)
    Example: I was running through the park. (Corrected, complete sentence with subject "I" and verb "was running")

It's important to keep in mind that while grammar rules are important to follow, it's also crucial to be aware of the context and audience of your writing. Knowing when to break a rule can also be important to make your writing more effective.