A BRIEF GRAMMAR FOR LAWYERS

Grammar, which knows how to control even kings...

             Moliere, Les Femmes Savantes, act II, scene vi

A.  All English words are one (or more) of the eight Parts of Speech:

noun
pronoun
adjective
verb
adverb
preposition
conjunction
interjection

B.  A noun (sometimes called a substantive) is a word used  as the name of a person,

place, or thing.

1. A common noun is the name of any one class  of persons,   places, or things:

                    E.g., lawyer; town; court; etc.

2. A proper noun is the name of a particular person, place, or thing:

E.g., Abraham Lincoln; Lancaster, Ohio; The United States Court of Appeals for the
Sixth Circuit.

Proper nouns are capitalized.

3.  Nouns are described in case and number. English now has three cases:
subjective, objective, and possessive, and two numbers: singular and plural.  The
subjective and objective cases are generally used for the grammatical subject of a
sentence and the grammatical object(s) in a sentence, respectively.  Differences in the
form of words to indicate the subjective and the objective case are now found usually
only in pronouns. (I = subjective; me = objective)  The possessive case is signified by
the addition of 's to a noun.

The interrogatories were answered.

[interrogatories = subjective case, plural in number]

They are the judge's books.

[judge's = possessive singular]

C.  A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun to avoid repetition (and to preserve
sanity). English has roughly 7 kinds of pronouns:

1. Personal (used to replace a person)

I, mine, me, you, yours, she, hers, her, etc.

2. Interrogative (used to ask a question)

Who, which, what, etc.

3. Relative (used to introduce an adjectival clause)

Who, that, which, whoever, whosoever, etc.

4. Reflexive (used to denote action done to self)

Myself, yourself, himself, herself, etc.

5. Intensive (used to stress identity of agent)

Myself, yourself, himself, herself, etc.

       6. Indefinite (used to replace non-specific things)

Some, any, one, someone, anyone, nobody, etc.

       7. Demonstrative (used for previously identified items)

This, that, etc.

D.  The antecedent of a pronoun is the word or words for which the pronoun stands.  A
pronoun must agree with its antecedent in person (1st, 2d, 3d), number (singular or
plural), and gender.

This is the case about which we spoke.

You should present this offer to your client and then call me with her decision. I hope
that she will accept it.
 

E.  An adjective is a word that is added to a noun or pronoun. There are two main kinds
of adjectives, descriptive and limiting.

1. A descriptive adjective expresses either the kind, condition, or quality of the noun or
pronoun.

E.g., a sly defendant; a solid indictment, etc.

2. A limiting adjective limits the idea expressed by the noun in quantity or membership
in a class.

E.g., this defendant, the eighth indictment, etc.

3. Note that many of the forms that we usually think of as pronouns are in many
instances limiting adjectives:

Possessive -- my motion, your idea, etc.

Demonstrative -- This contract is unconscionable.

Indefinite -- He represented some of the defendants.

Relative -- We agreed until it came to putting him on the stand, at which point we no
longer saw it the same way.

F.  A verb is the part of speech that asserts something about a noun, asks a question,
or expresses a command. Verbs are traditionally described in five categories: person,
number, tense, voice, and mood. For example, "I slept" is the first person, singular,
past, active, indicative. There are roughly four classes of verbs in English: transitive,
intransitive, linking, and auxiliary.

1. A transitive verb is one that requires an object.

He made a motion to suppress the tainted evidence.

2. An intransitive verb expresses a state or an action without reference to an object.

Half of the jury slept during summation.

3. Intransitive verbs, therefore, do not normally admit of passive construction.

4. Some verbs can be both transitive and intransitive.

The sun melted the snow; The ice melted.

5. The most common linking verb or copula is the verb "to be." It simply joins the
subject to the predicate noun or adjective and has no predicative force of its own (apart
from the assertion of existence).

Her client is an entrepreneur.

6. Verbs such as "feel," "smell," "taste," etc., are also  linking verbs, but with a little
more independent predicative force.  They are followed by an adjective not an adverb.

I feel bad.

[not badly--unless you mean to say that your sensory apparatus does not work well]

7. Auxiliary verbs are signifiers of tense or mood that help other verbs to make some
of their forms.

I have been feeling bad. I would go if I could go.

G.  Adverbs modify the meaning of a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.

1. Adverbs that modify verbs are usually adverbs of time (then, now, often), manner
(gently, frequently), or place (here, there, everywhere).

2. Adverbs that modify adjectives or other adverbs are often adverbs of degree (very,
exceedingly, greatly).

3. Note that prepositional phrases often function like adverbs.

He questioned the witness angrily.

He questioned the witness in anger.

H.  A preposition is a word specifically paired with (lit. "placed before") a noun or a
pronoun in order to create phrases that have quasi-adverbial force. These are known as
prepositional phrases.

At trial he speaks in stentorian tones. [when and how]

1. The same words often function as both prepositions and adverbs.

He looked around the courtroom. He looked around.

2. A preposition always governs an object; an adverb has no object.

I. A conjunction is a word used to connect words or groups of words. Conjunctions are

said to be coordinating or subordinating.

1. A coordinating conjunction (and, or, but, etc.) connects words, phrases, or clauses
of equal rank .

His writing is clear and efficient.

I wrote the brief but she argued it.

2. A subordinating conjunction is one that connects clauses of unequal rank.

After the trial date was set, they made an offer of settlement.

J.  An interjection is an exclamatory word used to express sudden or strong emotion.

It's an excited utterance, to use a term from evidence.

K.  A phrase is a group of related words that does not express a complete thought. A
phrase contains neither an expressed grammatical subject nor a finite predicate--but a
participial phrase will usually have a grammatical object.

1. A phrase is usually the equivalent of a single part of speech.

In the jury room the deliberation continued.

[prepositional phrase tells where like an adverb]

2. A preposition and its object form a prepositional phrase.

I worked on that document for seven days.

[for = preposition; days = object of the preposition; seven = adjective modifying "days."]

3. A participial phrase itself contains no expressed subject, but must modify (as an
adjective) some other noun in the sentence, often the expressed subject of the
sentence.  The participial phrase may well have an expressed object with other
attendant information.
Rejecting a more traditional view of federalism, the Court seemingly expanded the
several states' immunity to suit beyond the bounds that most commentators had
expected.

 [Rejecting = participle (kind of verbal adjective); view = direct object of participle. 

"Rejecting" takes as both its logical and grammatical subject "the Court."]
 

L.  A sentence is a group of words expressing a complete thought. There are three

kinds of sentences:

1. Declarative (makes a statement):

It was his recklessness that caused the injuries.

2. Interrogative (asks a question):

What price can we put on a person's reputation?

3. Imperative (expresses a command or request):

Help restore what was taken from my client, I beg you.

M.  All complete sentences have a subject and a predicate.

1. The subject of a sentence is that of which something is said or asserted.  The

simple subject is the bare noun or substantive itself; the complete subject includes
any modifiers to the simple subject.

That small company was transformed quickly by a huge IPO.

2. The predicate of a sentence is that which is said or asserted of the subject.  The
simple predicate is the verb forms themselves; the complete predicate includes any
attendant modifiers.

That small company was transformed quickly by a huge IPO.

3. The subject of the sentence usually comes first in English, but the predicate can
precede the subject:

Lost forever were the corporate secretary's notes.

4. A simple sentence has one subject and one predicate:

The jury was bored by his testimony.

5. Two or more subjects with one predicate are a compound subject:

Statutory damages and attorney's fees usually depend on registration.

6. Two or more predicates with one subject are a compound predicate:

The public demand for tort reform ebbs and flows.

N.  A clause is a division of a sentence that has both a subject and a predicate.
Clauses are classified by their similarity of function to a part of speech, by their force
or purpose of expression, and by their rank relative to one another.

1. Clauses classified by function:

a. adjectival clauses

I remember the house where I grew up.

b. adverbial clauses

We'll reconvene when our schedules permit.

c. noun clauses

The judge knew what it was.

d. Two special sub-species of noun clauses occur with verbs of mental activity:

i. the indirect statement

She said that she would testify.

ii. the indirect question

He wondered whether the defendant was guilty.

2. Clauses classified by force or purpose:

a. time = introduced by after, before, since, etc.

b. cause = introduced by because, since, for, etc.

c. condition = introduced by if, unless, except, etc

d. concession = introduced by although, though, etc.

e. purpose = introduced by that, in order that, lest, etc.

f. result = introduced by that, so that, etc.

g. degree = introduced by as, than, etc.

3. Clauses classified by rank:

a. A coordinate or independent clause expresses a complete thought by itself.

It is late and I am tired.

b. A subordinate or dependent clause is not a complete thought by itself.

Since it is late, I am growing tired.

O.  A compound sentence is one that contains two or more independent clauses.

I watched the jury closely, but I could not discern its verdict.

P.  A complex sentence is one that contains a single independent clause and one or
more dependent clauses.

Although I watched the jury closely, I could not discern its verdict.

Q.  A compound complex sentence is a compound sentence that contains one or

more dependent clauses.

After our expert had testified, I still didn't know what their expert would say, but I no
longer thought that it mattered.

R.  Tense is the change in the form of a verb to show the time of the verb's action. The
three main divisions of time that a verb can indicate in English are present, past, and
future. Within each division there are further gradations of tense.
1. Present tense

a. the simple present -- I walk [action in the present]

b. the present progressive -- I am walking [continuing action in the present]

2. Past tense

a. the simple past -- I walked [action in the past]

b. the perfect -- I have walked [completed action in the past]

c. the past progressive or imperfect -- I was walking [action continuing in the past]

d. the past perfect or pluperfect -- I had walked  [action in the past completed prior to
another past event]

3. Future tense

a. the simple future -- I will (or shall) walk [action in the future]

b. future perfect I will have walked [action in the future that will be completed prior to
another future event]

S.  A verb's mood is a change in its form or in its use that indicates the manner in which
the force of the verb is intended. English has three moods: the indicative, the
subjunctive, and the imperative.

1. The indicative mood is used to assert a fact or to ask a simple question.

He was walking. Did you walk with him?

2. The subjunctive mood is used to express a mental action that is not asserted as a
fact or a mental attitude of the speaker to the audience. In practice this means that the
subjunctive is used chiefly in three ways:

a. to express wishes, prayers, and desires.

Would that he were here.

Long live the king.

b. to express suppositions or conditions contrary to fact.

If I were in Courtroom 12, I would not be cold.

c. to express present or future uncertainty (future less vivid).

If it be humanly possible, he will find him.

3. The imperative mood is used to express a command or a request.

Take the defendant into custody. Help me, please.

T.  Voice is a change in the form of a transitive verb that shows whether its subject is
the agent (or "doer") of its force or meaning or whether its subject is the object (or
receiver) of its force or meaning.  English only has two voices: active and passive.

1. In the active voice the subject of the verb is the agent or doer.

He deposed the witnesses to the accident.

2. In the passive voice the grammatical subject of the verb is its logical object. It may
help to remember that passive originally meant "experiencing" or "suffering." The
subject of a verb in the passive voice experiences or suffers the action denoted by the
verb.

The witnesses were deposed by him.

U.  Verb forms that are not finite, i.e., which do not by themselves constitute a definite
predicate are called verbals. English has three verbals: infinitives, participles, and
gerunds. Note that verbals may still be inflected for tense and voice.

1. Infinitives are verbal nouns marked by the preposition "to."

a. Present active infinitive = to write

b. Perfect active infinitive = to have written

c. Perfect passive infinitive = to have been written

2. The infinitive sign or marker, "to," is often omitted after auxiliaries and the verbs help,
make, let, see, and hear.

Let the witness take the stand. Help me finish this.

3. A participle is a verbal adjective that modifies a noun or a pronoun.   A participial

phrase is an adjectival phrase introduced by a participle.
 Walking in front of the jury box, he summarized his argument.

4. Present participles usually end in 'ing,' past participles regularly in 'ed.'

5. The gerund is a verbal noun that looks very much like a participle but is used very
much like an infinitive.

Walking is the only form of exercise I am allowed now.