most vs. most of the

Should you write most students or most of the students?

Well, it depends on whether you are referring the word students to group of real students or students in general.

See here: most students vs. most of the students

1. Use of the after words such as all, much, most, some, a few, a little, and many when followed by a concrete noun.

• Most of the students on the classroom were new.

In the above sentence the phrase in the classroom makes the noun students real and concrete.

• Most of the work that our mentor assigns is interesting.

In the sentence above the clause that our mentor assigns makes the noun work real and concrete.

2. Don't use of the when the noun is generic.

• Most people like Indian food. Here the writer means people in general, not a real, concrete group of people.

• Most household chores are boring. Here the household chores, in general, are boring.

3. Never use of without the or another modifier in quantity expressions.

• Most of the workers are absent today.
• All of their documents were missing.

Concrete Nouns and Generic Nouns

A generic noun is a symbol for whole group of people, places, or things in general. It represents any and all members of a group.

• A dog is a loyal companion implies any dog is a loyal companion.
• Dogs are loyal companions imply all dogs are loyal companions.

• Do you like tea?

In the above sentence the word tea is a generic noun. It is a symbol for tea in general. It doesn't refers to real tea that you can drink, smell or taste.

A concrete noun refers to a real and concrete person, place, or thing.

• The tea is strong implies the tea that I am drinking right now is strong.
• You look exhausted. Would you like some tea? In this sentence the tea is the real tea that you would like to drink.

Base form of Verb

The base form of the verb is the form of verb in which the verb appears in the dictionary i.e. it is free from agreement, tense, or participle endings. 

The base form of verb is used after:

1. The subjunctive mood. 

• The deal requires that industrialists join the union.

2. The modal auxiliary                                                                                                                        

• I can speak Mandarin.

3. The infinitive marker to                                                                                                                        

• It is time to go.

4. After verbs of seeing or hearing                                                                                                    

• We watched them play Cricket.

Coordinating Conjunctions

A coordinating conjunction joins two or more grammatically equal structures.

The seven coordinating conjunctions are remembered as "A.B. Fonsy" : and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet.

• Bad weather set in, so we left.
• The federal government could raise taxes, or it could reduce expenditures.

Joining Independent Clauses

The independent clauses (IC) of a compound sentence must generally be joined in one of the following 3 ways:

1. IC ; IC
2. IC , conjunction IC
3. IC ; conjunctive adverb (placement optional), IC

In general

1. Use a semicolon alone when the clauses are short comparatively and relation between them is obvious.

• Self-denial is not a virtue; it is only the effect of prudence on rascality.

2. Use a coordinating conjunction ( and, but, for, or, nor, so, yet) when you want to indicate the relation clearly.

• The firefighters fought hard, yet they could not save the building.

3. Use a conjunctive adverb when it can show the relation more precisely than a conjunction does.

• Alice supplemented her class instruction with weekly visits to a tutor; thus her writing steadily improved.

Noun Phrase

A noun phrase is a group of words that does the work of a noun. A noun phrase is either a pronoun or any group of words that can be replaced by a pronoun.

'they', 'bicycles', and 'the bicycles' are noun phrases, but 'bicycle' is just a noun, as you can see in the sentences below.

• Q: Do you like bicycles?
• A: Yes, I like them.

• Q: Do you like the bicycles over there?
• A: Yes, they are nice.

• Q: Do you like the bicycle I bought last week?
• A: Yes, I like it. (Note: 'It' refers to 'the bicycle', not 'bicycle')

Noun Premodifiers - Modifiers before the noun are called premodifiers. (modify means to limit, restrict, characterize, or otherwise focus meaning). All of the premodifiers that are present and the noun together form a noun phrase.

Noun Post-Modifiers - Modifiers coming after a noun are called post-modifiers.

Structures of Noun phrases

1. NOUN PHRASE: premodifiers + noun                                                                     

• White house (white is a pre-modifier and house is a noun)                                                 
• The three old Democratic legislators (the three old Democratic is pre-modifier and legislators is a noun)    

2. NOUN PHRASE: noun + post-modifiers 

(The most common post-modifiers are prepositional phrases).

• The glass on the table. (on the table is the post-modifier)
• The boy in the store. (in the store is the post-modifier)

3. NOUN PHRASE: pre-modifier + noun + post-modifier. 

The noun together with all pre and post-modifiers constitutes a single unit, a noun phrase that indicates the complete reference.

• The boys on top of the house. (The is the pre-modifier, boys is the noun, on top of the house is the post-modifier)

What is a Phrase ?

Phrase is a group of words, which makes sense, but not complete sense, is called a Phrase. It is a group of related words without a Subject and a Verb.
or
A Phrase consists of two or more words lacking a complete sense and a complete verb. It may consist of one or more incomplete verbs - the Infinitives or the Participles standing on their own.

Words/group of words in italics are phrases in examples below:

• The sun rises in the east.
• Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
• She wore a hat with blue trimming.
• The accident on the bridge was not serious.
• The girl with red hair is an artist.
• Sasha took a long leave.
• Holding the toy, the child slept.

Identify phrases in the sentence below:

• Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature.

For answer to above, click: What is a Phrase?

What is a Clause ?

Clause: A group of Subject - Predicate construction is called a Clause. 
OR 
A Subject and a Predicate form a clause. 
OR 
Such a group of words which forms part of a sentence, and contains a Subject and a Predicate, is called a clause.

• He has a chain which is made of gold. (which - subject; is made of gold - predicate).
• I think that you have made a mistake. (you - subject; have made a mistake - predicate).

Independent Clause: can stand alone or makes a coomplete sense in itself.

• Ram writes stories. (Ram - subject; writes stories - predicate)

Note: A simple sentence has just one clause, called an independent clause.

Dependent Clause or Subordinate Clause: The dependent clause cannot stand alone as a short but complete sentence.

• When Ram writes stories, he observes other people closely. (Ram - subject; when writes stories - predicate). The word when signals that additional words are needed to complete its meaning.

Links:
What is a clause?
Subject and Predicate

Grammer - Subject and Predicate

What is a subject?
The subject is the person, place, or thing that acts, is acted on, or is described in the sentence.
There are three types of subjects:

1. Simple subject: a noun or a pronoun

• she
• he
• cat
• city

2. Complete subject: a noun or a pronoun plus any modifiers

• the black cat
• the clouds in the sky
• his big house
• the hungary lion 

3. Compound subject: two or more subjects joined by a conjunction 

• Peter or Harry
• the cat and the mouse
• she and I
• a bat and a ball 

What is a predicate?
A predicate usually follows the subject , tells what the subject does, has, or is, what is done to it, or where it is. It is the action or description that occurs in the sentence.

There are three types of predicates:

1. Simple predicate: a complete verb (a verb and any helping verbs)

• stand
• was dancing
• could have sung
• is sleeping

2. Complete predicate: a simple predicate plus all modifiers

• sit on the couch
• was singing sweetly
• could have danced across the floor
• was reading loudly 

3. Compound predicate: two or more predicates with the same subject

• was singing quietly and sweetly
• could have danced across the floor and stayed awake all night
• sit on the couch or sit on the floor
• play cards or watch television

Generally all sentences need a subject and a predicate.

Simple Subject: Peter
Complete Subject: My friend Peter
Compound Subject: Peter and I
Simple Predicate: jumped
Complete Predicate: jumped on the bed
Compound Predicate: jumped on the bed and fell on the floor

Subject + Predicate 

Peter jumped.
Peter and I jumped.
My friend Peter jumped on the bed.
Peter jumped on the bed and fell on the floor.
Peter and I jumped on the bed.

NOTE: A command is the only type of sentence that has no subject. The subject (“you”) is implied.

1. Stop.

• Implied subject: you
• Predicate: stop

2. Read the book.

• Implied subject: you
• Predicate: read the book

3. Stand up

• Implied subject: you
• Predicate: stand up