Brehe’s Grammar Anatomy makes grammar accessible to general and specialist readers alike. This book provides an in-depth look at beginner grammar terms and concepts, providing clear examples with limited technical jargon. Whether for academic or personal use, Brehe’s Grammar Anatomy is the perfect addition to any resource library.
When we speak or write, or listen or read, we create sentences with words and phrases. Grammar is the system of rules that guide us as we make and comprehend the sentences of others. All languages have some kind of grammar.
When we use the word grammar in the sense discussed here, that “system of rules” does not necessarily include rules like “Never end a sentence with a preposition,” or “Don’t dangle your participle around here, bub.” That kind of rule may often be helpful, but it’s not what this book is generally about.
Understanding the basics of English grammar is helpful whenever we study language. When we’re learning to become better writers, for instance, we have to discuss language, and that requires some knowledge of the terms and concepts of sentence structure—that is, of grammar.
For example, we may discuss improving something we wrote by rewriting a passive sentence as an active sentence. But discussing that improvement—and making it—means we need to recognize a passive verb and know how to change it into an active verb, and then make all the related changes in the sentence.
The terms and concepts you learn in English grammar apply to other languages, too. Many of the grammatical concepts of English apply to other European languages, and some apply to non-European languages as well. That means that English speakers can use grammatical terms and concepts they already know to help them learn a new language. For example, it’s easier for English speakers to learn about direct and indirect objects in German if they already understand these concepts in English.
Any time we want to learn about language or discuss it, basic grammatical terms and concepts are likely to be useful. We encounter those terms and concepts in dictionaries and other reference works; we encounter them in books on linguistics and psychology.
So why study grammar? To become a better writer? To learn a new language? To study linguistics? To become an English teacher? To use a dictionary more effectively? If you want to do any of these things, you’ll find a basic knowledge of grammar helpful.