In our Glossary of Grammatical and Rhetorical Terms, there are two definitions of grammar:
1. The systematic of study and description of a language.
2. A set of rules and examples dealing with the syntax and word
structures of a language, usually intended as an aid to the learning of that language.
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Actually, every language has a grammatical system. The grammatical system of English makes possible the expression of meaning. Grammar easier
the speaker and listener to understand what they are talking about. The study of grammar as process is the study of grammar as it is deployed
in communication, and communication is concerned in part with the exchange and sharing of knowledge through language. Grammar is important in this
process, but it does not stand-alone. Rather, grammar is a resource that we elaborate more or less, as the occasion requires.
Grammar of a language as the knowledge that every speaker of the language has, or the explicit description made by a linguist, or both, the
grammar must contain three parts. Part one, of course as semantics, the knowledge from the point of view of the individual who speaks and hears
other speaking, or the description from a linguist‟s point of view, of meaningful units like words and meaningful combinations of words like
sentences.
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2. The Definition of Tense
Tense is used to show the relation between the action of state described
by the verb and the time, which is reflected in the form of the verb.
Tense is one aspect in English that is important to give a clear explanation about something in a sentence. There are some tenses in English which can we
learned; Present Tense, Past Tense, Present Progressive Tense, Present
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Grammar.about.comodbasicsentensegrammaragrammarintro.htm
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Charles W. Kreidler, Introducing English Semantics, London: Routledge: 1998, p. 7
Perfect, Present Future, etc. In English, tense can showed the time of the sentence happened exactly.
Tense is a pattern in English that used for communication and written form. Tense shows the time when someone speaks. Grammatical tense is a
temporal linguist quality expressing the time at, during, or over which a state or action denoted by a verb occurs.
3. The Simple Present Tense
The present tense is a grammatical tense that locates a situation of event in present time. The simple present says that something was true in the past, is
true in the present, and will be true in the future. It is used for general statements of fact. The simple present is used to express habitual or everyday
activity.
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We use the present simple to describe things that are always true, or situations that exist now and, as far as we know, will go on definitely.
Form of present tense: Affirmative form
S + to be is, am ,are + V1 I drink coffee
She drinks coffee Negative form
S + dodoes + not + V1 I do not drink coffee
She does not drink coffee Interrogative form
Dodoes + S + V + ? Do you like coffee?
Does Bob like coffee?
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Azar Betty Schrampfer, Understanding and Using English Grammar, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1989, p. 11
4. Past Tense
The past tense is a grammatical tense whose principal function is to place an action or situation in past time. In languages, which have a past tense, it
thus provides a grammatical means of indicating that the event being referred to look place in the past.
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When we want to indicate that something happened at a specific time in the past, we use the past simple. We can either say it happen, using a time
adverb, or assume that the listener already knows when it happen or can understand this from the context.
Form of Past Tense: Affirmative form
S + waswere + V2 S + did + V2 I was an employer last month.
I studied English in Paris. Negative form
S + to be waswere + V2 S + did + V1 I was not an employer last month.
I did not study in Paris. Interrogative form
Did + S + V1 + ? Waswere + S + V + ? Did you study in Paris last year?
Were you in class yesterday?
5. The Passive Voice
