Nouns, Verbs, Modifiers

The vast majority of language is made up of nouns, verbs, and modifiers. The use of each has its peculiarities, and every language handles them differently. Nouns are or are not accompanied by articles, there is no universal set of verb tenses, and modifiers are usually placed flexibly. I write “usually” because I don’t know all the languages in the world.

Exercises in basic sentence structure should be like playing scales in music, or doing a bit of weight or aerobic training in athletics. They are repetitive, but can be quite challenging.

Exercise: English is a Subject-Verb-Object language  Have students form groups to write ten sentences which contain a simple subject, verb, and object.  And example: John sees the book. They cannot use the same verb twice.

Easy? Not as easy as you think.

grammar exercises, linguistics in the classroom, sentence structure, teaching grammar, teaching writing

Syntax, Teaching Writing