Download Parts of Speech for the Helpless Soul Part II

Parts of Speech for the
Lost in Grammar Land
Part II
Verbs, Conjunctions,
Prepositions and Interjections
TCTC Writing Center
Prepared by Jennifer Higgins-Spiers
July, 2007
Verbs
Verbs are action words of the sentence. They show what
the nouns and/or pronouns are doing. The English
language has THREE types of verbs: action, linking
and helping.
Additionally, verbs have 4 major tenses: present
(happening NOW) , past (happened before now), past
participle (past tense verbs with the helping verbs
have/has/had), and future (WILL happen). We will
focus more on the present, past and past participle
tenses.
Action Verbs
Action verbs show PHYSICAL action. The verb can
actually be ‘done’ by the subject.
Tyler gave his mother his snotty tissue.
Tyler physically GAVE his mother this tissue. He
physically used his hand to move the tissue toward his
mother.
Megan ran fifteen miles before she collapsed.
Megan physically RAN. She physically moved her legs and
moved her body forward.
Linking verbs
Linking verbs do just what they say they do….link.
They are state of being verbs that can NOT be
done physically. State of being verbs simply state
what the subject IS, smells like, feels like, tastes
like, looks like, and so on. They link the subject
to the object via description. Adjectives and
Adverbs ALWAYS follow the linking verb.
Examples of linking verbs
• This cat looks like my grandfather.
• The teachers became angry with the student’s inability
to use commas.
• That dog is always happy.
• Paula Abdul must feel stupid about tripping over her
dog and breaking her nose.
• My doctor seems impatient; I hate him.
Notice how the subject cannot physically do these
verbs. The verbs show the state of the
subjects…they state what the subjects ARE vs.
what they DO.
Action Vs Linking:
Some verbs can be BOTH action or linking,
depending on the context.
ACTION
• He smelled pizza
• I looked at my mother.
• She felt around for her
glasses.
• We tasted escargot for
the first time.
LINKING
• The pizza smells good.
• My mother looks tired.
• The glasses felt tight on
her face.
• Escargot tastes like
mushrooms.
Notice the difference between the verbs used in each column? The subject
can physically do the verb in the first column, but in the second column,
the same verb is used to link the subject to its description
Helping Verbs
Helping verbs do just that. They HELP verbs!
Helping verbs include have, has, had, am, is, was,
were, be, being, and been. They are used to
ENHANCE an action verb. For example:
I have gone fishing all summer.
They are being ridiculous.
She has been feeling dizzy lately.
Bubba is watching his favorite soap opera today.
Infinitives
If you have taken a foreign language, you may be familiar with the word
‘infinitive’. An infinitive is a base verb—all verbs come from
infinitives.
Infinitive formula (who says English and math don’t work together?)
to + verb = infinitive
to be
to have
to see
to die
to sneeze
to roll over
to wink
to use
…..and so on…..
More on verbs
In the most languages, in addition to ‘action,
linking, helping’ verbs, there are also
REGULAR verbs and IRREGULAR verbs.
They are called regular/irregular based on verb
conjugations.
WHAT THE HECK IS A
CONJUGATION?
When you change a root verb
based on a subject, you are
conjugating. For example,
let’s look at the verb ‘to talk’.
I talk, talked, have/had talked
You talk, talked, have/had talked
He/she/it talks, talked, has/had talked
We talk, talked, have/had talked
They talk, talked, have/had talked
Do you see how the verb
‘to talk’ was used in many
different ways? That is
what conjugation is. You
do this with EVERY verb,
whether you know it or
not!
Regular Vs Irregular
If you can put –ed at the end of a
verb to make it in the past tense,
then the verb is regular.
If you cannot put –ed at the end
of a verb to make it in the past
tense, then the verb is
irregular.
• jump, jumped, have/has/had
jumped
• act, acted, have/has/had acted
• walk, walked, have/has/had
walked
• Study, studied, have/has/had
studied
• sing, sang, have/has/had sung
• ring, rang, have/has/had rung
• bring, brought have/has/had
brought
• fall, fell, have/has/had fallen
Remember: have/has/had are used with the PAST PARTICIPAL
Conjunctions
Conjunctions are ‘linking’ words. They join two
or more ideas together. In our wonderful world
of English grammar, there are TWO types of
conjunctions: coordinating and subordinating.
Coordinating Conjunctions
FANBOYS:
For
And
Nor
But
Or
Yet
So
• Coordinating conjunctions act like your typical
coordinator. They divvy up equal ideas.
• If a coordinating conjunction is used, you know it
will be to join two independent sentences or to join
subjects, verbs or direct objects together.
• Key word: EQUAL ideas.
Shirley said she didn’t like to eat meat, yet she eats
chicken nuggets at Burger King!
Shirley said she didn’t like to eat meat is an
independent clause.
She eats chicken nuggets at Burger King is also an
independent clause.
 The word ‘yet’ joins to EQUAL independent
clauses.
Subordinating Conjunctions
after
although
as
as if
as soon as
because
before
if
since
unless
until
when(ever)
whereas
while
• To subordinate means to make inferior.
Subordinating conjunctions do JUST THAT.
• These conjunctions JOIN ideas, but instead of
joining two equal ideas like coordinating
conjunctions do, they join ideas by making one
idea inferior to the other.
• In other words, the conjunction joins two
ideas– one idea is stronger than the other.
After we finish dinner, we will watch a
movie.
If you take away the word after in the first clause,
you will see that we finish dinner is an
independent clause.
The word ‘after’ MAKES it dependent.
Therefore, ‘after’ makes the clause
inferior/subordinate.
Examples: Coordinating vs. Subordinating
Sentences with Coordinating
Conjunctions
Sentences with Subordinating
Conjunctions
The stray dog growled, so the
children knew to stay away
from it.
We need to make sure we have
enough money and plenty of
food to eat.
Angelina Jolie is a great actress, but
she is also a humanitarian.
You need to make sure you study
comma rules, or you will be in
big trouble!
Because the stray dog growled,
the children knew to stay away.
Since we are going on a long trip,
we need to make sure we have
enough money and plenty of
food.
Although Angelina Jolie is a great
actress, she does humanitarian
work as well.
You need to make sure you study
comma rules because bad
comma usage can get you in
trouble!
Punctuation marks with
conjunctions
You will GENERALLY use commas with
conjunctions; however, this is not always the
case. Make sure you study your comma rules
before you go conjunction crazy in your writing!
If you are struggling with commas, check out
our PowerPoint presentation on commas,
and/or go to www.chompchomp.com
Prepositions
• Students make prepositions harder than they really are.
While there are a LOT of prepositions, keep in mind
that there is NO NEED to MEMORIZE what
prepositions are– get a feel for what they DO in a
sentence.
• Generally, prepositions show relation to time or place
within the sentence. There are few prepositions that
aide in describing how the subject is as well as
conditions placed on the subject.
List of prepositions REMEMBER:
DO NOT MEMORIZE THIS LIST!
Place prepositions
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
against
among
around
at
behind
beneath
below
between
beyond
by
down
from
in
in front of
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Time prepositions
into
•
inside
•
off
•
on
onto
•
over
•
out (of)
outside
to
through(out)
under
up
upon
after
before
during
until
since
Other prepositions
•
•
•
•
•
as
despite
like
without
of
Prepositional Phrases
Prepositions are ALWAYS in phrases. Sometimes they act as adjectives, but most times,
they act as adverbs. Here are some examples:
We will go visit Bubba after the pie eating contest.
This phrase shows WHEN we will visit Bubba; therefore, it shows relation to TIME.
The barf bag is in the compartment in front of you.
Both of these phrases show WHERE the barf bag is; therefore, it shows relation to
PLACE.
She won’t go without her dog.
The phrase describes her condition on whether or not she will go. With her dog, she
will; without her dog, she won’t.
Like his grandfather, Charlie enlisted in the Marines.
This phrase describes how Charlie enlisted in the marines.
Interjections!
• Interjections are probably the most FUN part of speech
to use. These words show emotion (disappointment,
stress, anger, happiness, pleasure, excitement, rage,
frustration, and so on…)
• Interjections are either followed by a comma or an
exclamation mark(!). You use whatever punctuation
you want, depending on how much you want to stress
the emotion. Obviously, if you want to place a LOT of
emphasis on the emotion, you use an exclamation
mark. Otherwise, just use a comma.
Examples of Interjections
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Ouch! That really stings!
Man! I can’t believe you’d do that to me!
Ok, what do you want me to do now?
So, what’s the big deal?
Hallelujah! The semester is over!
Hail to Dorothy! The Wicked Witch is dead!
$@*$*! Is that true?
---you can use your imagination for other examples.
*Note* Interjections are not generally used in formal papers. This is
just to show you what interjections are.
Parts of Speech—SO WHAT?
It is very unlikely that you will have to pull apart a
sentence and indicate every single part of
speech; HOWEVER, you must be familiar with
these terms in order to be successful with more
important aspects of grammar, such as the usage
of commas and semi colons and distinguishing
between independent and dependent clauses.
You’re finished!
Now that you are done reading this, you are ready
to go to the next lesson– phrases and clauses.
That lesson will go over the formation and
function of these complicated grammatical
entities. Now that you have a grammar
foundation, perhaps it won’t be as complicated!
Feel free to refer back to this presentation
anytime you are struggling!