Studying grammar is rarely thought of as fun. Yet it is an important component of effective communication. Grammar provides the rules that speakers and writers need to follow in order to be clearly understood. Although there is no substitute for working hard at understanding grammar, there are fun grammar games for beginners.

Sentence

The game has 10 questions. Each question is in the form of a sentence that has one word missing. Four possible choices for the missing word are provided. The students must choose the correct word. The sentence could be "A dog . . ." The four possible answers could be "sings," "bear," "barks" or "flower." Students get 10 points for getting the answer correct the first time and five points for getting it right on the second try. After two misses, the correct answer is provided. Students are then asked whether "barks" is a noun, verb or adjective.

Nouns and Pronouns

The rules and setup for this game are the same as those for the "sentence" game. Four sentences are provided to the students. They can be the same sentence with a different word highlighted in each sentence. Students must then choose the sentence that has the noun or pronoun highlighted. Different sentences can also be provided with students being asked to choose the function that the noun or pronoun performs in the sentence. The purpose could be to choose the sentence in which the noun names a person.

Verbs

Based on the same rules as the other two games, provide the students with four sentences. Have them pick the sentence in which the verb is highlighted. To make it a little easier, the same sentence can be provided to the students with different parts of the sentence highlighted and then having them pick the part of the sentence in which the verb is highlighted.

Adjectives

This game is similar to the verb game. Four sentences are provided to the students. Only one of the sentences has the verb highlighted. The student must choose the sentence with the highlighted verb. Again, the game can be made easier by providing the same sentence with different words highlight and having students choose the answer that has the verb highlighted.