A DEFINITION
As I have already suggested, it is true that grammar relates to linguistic form, about which speakers have little choice. As we see in Example 1, when using the verb be, English speakers need to use am for first person singular subjects and are for first person plural subjects. Children is the irreg- ular plural form of child. Attributive adjectives precede nouns in English, so we say a fragrant meadow, not a meadow fragrant.
- I am →→ We are
one child→ two childrenA fragrant meadow→ *A meadow fragrant
three common examples of grammar rules shown in Example 1 to demonstrate that even at this very basic level, we have a choice of forms to use.