Did You Know?
THE ORIGINS OF GRAMMAR
You probably realise that we usually write more carefully than we speak. When speaking, we are able to use sentence fragments because the context and voice intonation (the rise and fall of the voice) help to convey meaning.
Understanding English grammar seems to have become more important since Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1445. Latin was already studied by the privileged class and its grammar was well known, so the terminology we have to describe English grammar tends to come from Latin: e.g. noun from nomen (name), verb from verbum (word), adverb from ad (to/towards) and verbum (word) and adjective from ad (to/towards) and jacere, jecto (throw). The term grammar itself derives from the Greek grammatikē technē, which means 'art of letters'. The Greek gramma means 'letter'.
The early Grammar schools were given that name because they included in their curriculum the teaching of Latin and Greek grammar.