In this lesson, we take our first steps into the study of grammar by learning about the basic elements of thought and language. Before we can understand how words work in sentences, we need to understand what we use words for. We begin by exploring how we come to know things—through our five senses and through our awareness of feelings and ideas. These things we know, whether we see them or simply feel them inside, are called objects. We will also learn what a word is and how it helps us express our thoughts about these objects. This simple but important lesson lays the foundation for everything else we will study in grammar.
1. Discovering the World Through Our Senses
Every day, we learn about the world around us through five special abilities called the senses. These are:
Seeing with our eyes
Hearing with our ears
Feeling (or touching) with our skin
Tasting with our tongue
Smelling with our nose
Each time you see a flower, hear music, touch a warm blanket, taste a sweet apple, or smell a candle, your senses are at work. When your senses help you notice something, we say you perceive it. To perceive something means to become aware of it through one of your senses.
2. Things We Know Without Sensing
But not everything we know comes from the senses. For example, if you drop a book and watch it fall to the floor, you don’t see the force pulling it down, but you know it’s there. That invisible pull is called gravity. You can’t see or touch it, but you know it exists. You are conscious of it.
The same goes for feelings like love, joy, anger, or sadness. We don’t see them, taste them, or touch them — but we still know they’re real because we feel them inside. This shows that we can be conscious of many things, even if we don’t perceive them with our senses.
3. What Is an Object?
So, what do all these things—flowers, music, gravity, and love—have in common? They are all called objects.
An object is anything we can perceive with our senses or anything we can be conscious of in our mind.
Whether you see it, hear it, feel it, or simply know it in your thoughts, it counts as an object.
4. What Do We Think and Talk About?
When you think, what do you think about? Probably about people, places, feelings, events—these are all objects.
When you talk, what do you talk about? Objects.
When you write, what do you write about? Objects again.
Everything we express in our thoughts, speech, or writing is about objects.
But we need a way to express these thoughts. That’s where words come in.
5. What Is a Word?
A word is a building block of language. It’s made of syllables, which are parts of spoken sounds.
A word is a syllable or a group of syllables that we use to express a thought.
Every sentence you say or write is made up of words. These words help you tell others what you’re thinking about. For example:
The word apple helps you share the idea of a fruit.
The word happy lets others know how you feel.
So, words are tools we use to talk and write about objects.
Review
How many senses do we have?
– Five.Can you name them?
– Seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting, and smelling.Can you name some things we can perceive?
– A flower, music, a soft blanket, a cookie, a scented candle.What are some things we can’t perceive with the senses, but still know are real?
– Gravity, love, joy, sadness.What is an object?
– Anything we can perceive or be conscious of.What is a word?
– A syllable or group of syllables used to express a thought.
