Download Grammar focus 1

GRAMMAR
FOCUS 1
Parts of Speech & Parts of a Sentence- Review
Introduction – Parts of Speech


Words in the English language are used in eight (or
nine) different ways.
For this reason there are eight (or nine) parts of
speech
Nouns
Definition – word that names a person, place, thing, or
idea.


Proper Noun – name specific people, places, things, or ideas. Ex:
New York City, Zeke, Hurricane Ivan
Common Noun – any noun that is not a proper noun. Ex: school, car,
dog
Types of Nouns –



Concrete – names things that can be seen, heard, or touched.
Ex: water, mountain, air, money
Abstract – names something that you can think about but cannot
see. Ex: joy, hope, August, kindness
Collective – names a collection of person, animals, or things Ex:
group, class, clan, flock, tribe
Pronouns

Definition – Used in place of a noun.
 Antecedent
– The noun to which the pronoun refers to is
called the antecedent.
 Pronouns must match their antecedent in “person,”
“gender,” and “number”
 Includes: I, me, you, he, him, she, her, it , we, us, they, them
 WATCH OUT! Check for agreement with compound
subjects and objects
Example: Andre and Jerry got out their snowboards.
Example: The attendant would allow neither Andre nor
Jerry to ride the lift without his ticket.
Types of Pronouns

Personal Pronoun
 Defn:
Pronouns that refer to:
 1)
the person speaking or writing,
 2) the person listening or reading, or
 3) the topic (person, place, or thing) being discussed or written about
 Examples:
I, me, my, mine, you, your, yours, he, him, she, her, it,
its, we, us, our, ours, they, them, their, theirs

Demonstrative Pronouns
 Defn:
A pronoun that points out a person, place, or thing.
DEMONSTRATES the person, place, or thing
 Examples: This, that, these, those
Adjectives

Definition – Words that describe or modify nouns or
pronouns.
 Help
readers see, feel, hear, smell, and taste what
writers are describing

Adjectives answer four questions:
 What
Kind?
 How Much?
 How Many?
 Which One?

Ex: Spanish moss, six horses, that desk, last test,
some rain, green apples, few computers.
Articles:


Technically articles fall into the category of adjectives,
but many consider them a separate category. (Hence
the 9th part of speech)
Simply the words:
A
 An
 The


Definite Article = “The” – points to a specific person,
place, or thing.
Indefinite Article = “A” and “An” – point to any member
of a group of similar people, places, or things.
Verbs

Definition – Shows action or links the subject to another
word in the sentence.
 Action
Verb – Shows what the subject is doing
 Linking Verb – Connects a subject to a noun or an adjective
in the predicate.
Common linking verbs: be, is, are, was, were, am, been, being, appear,
become, feel, grow, look, remain, seem, smell, sound, taste.
 Ex: A hurricane is a tropical cyclone.

 Helping
 Ex:
Verb: Completes the main verb.
The hurricane will result in some damage.
 Irregular
Verb: the endings do not follow the –ed rule.
Verb probably changes. Ex: Write – wrote, Swim - Swam
Adverbs


Definition – Describes or modify verbs, adjectives,
or other adverbs.
Adverbs can answer 5 questions:
 How?
 When?
 How
often?
 Where?
 How much?

Examples Sentences:
 Dad
drove carefully through the fog. We hope it clears
up later. The fog seems to be everywhere. It
completely blocks the view of my yard.
Comparatives & Superlatives as Adverbs

The comparative will modify
verbs that compare the actions
of two items.
 earlier,

farther
The superlative will modify
verbs that compare the actions
of three or more items.
 earliest,
farthest
Examples






Frank will arrive early in the morning. (positive or
basic form)
Josh arrived earlier in the morning. (comparative)
Samuel arrived the earliest in the morning.
(superlative)
Sally works hard.
Steve works harder than Sally
Kathy and Sue work the hardest of all.
Preposition

Word, or group of words, that show the relationship
between an object (the noun or pronoun that follows
the preposition) and another word in the sentence.
 About,
before, behind, down, at, because of, for of,
over, on top of, toward, under, within, without, since,
across, according to, amid, despite, between, etc.
Conjunctions


Definition – Connects individual words or groups of
words.
Three types:
 Coordinating
conjunctions – connects words to words, a
phrase to a phrase, or a clause to a clause
 And,
but, or, nor, for, yet, so (FANBOYS)
 Correlative:
conjunctions used in pairs
 Not
only, but also; neither, nor; either, or; both, and;
weather, or
 Subordinating:
both connect and show relationship
between two clauses that are NOT equally important.
 After,
although, as, before, because, since, so that, till, etc.
Interjections


Definition – communicates strong emotion or
surprise.
Punctuation, often a comma or exclamation point, is
used to set off an interjection from the rest of the
sentence.
 Oh
no! I forgot my homework
 Good grief! I am tired of his complaining.
 Yikes, I’ll go mad if the cat keeps howling.
Parts of a Sentence


The following are not parts of speech, but are parts
of a sentence. These are used in grammar to refer
to very specific parts of every sentence
Every sentence has two parts
 Subject
 Predicate
Subject(s)

The subject of a sentence is who (person) or what
(thing) the sentence is about
 Answers
the questions: What is this sentence about?
Who is this sentence about?



It is a noun
There may be other nouns in the sentence, but these
may not be the subject.
Ex. Zeke ran through the house to grab the tennis
ball that was bouncing.
Compound Subjects



A compound subject contains two or more subjects
usually joined by “and” or “or”.
Still answers: who or what is this sentence about?
Ex. Mark Twain and Harper Lee are American
authors.
Predicate


A predicate tells what the subject does.
Answers the questions:
 What
is the person doing?
 What is the thing doing?



It is a verb.
There may be other verbs in the sentence.
Ex. Zeke ran through the house to catch the ball
that was bouncing.
Compound Predicates



A compound predicate has two or more predicates
usually joined by “and”, “or”, or “but”
Still answers the question: what is the subject doing?
Ex. They wrote great novels and became famous.