Download common grammar vocabulary

COMMON GRAMMAR VOCABULARY
NOUN – names a person, place, thing, or idea.
Examples: I have many relatives. Canada is my country. She has a very nice
boat. Everyone should enjoy freedom.
 Proper noun – names a specific person, place, thing, or idea. Begins
with a capital letter.
Examples: She is from New Zealand. This is John. My family celebrates
Christmas.
 Singular noun – names one person, place, thing, or idea.
Examples: I saw a bear in the forest. Our baby brings us great happiness.
Calgary is a nice city.
 Plural nouns – names more than one person, place, thing, or idea.
Examples: I saw bears in the forest. Our babies bring us great happiness.
Calgary and Edmonton are nice cities.
VERB – is a physical or mental action or a state of being.
Examples: They play soccer every weekend. She thinks about her daughter
everyday. We are students.
 Action verbs – tells what the subject of a sentence is doing.
Examples: We brush our teeth every night. I laughed at the joke.
It will rain tomorrow. She is sitting on the chair. He was copying the notes
yesterday. They have been in Canada for 20 years. It will have been seven
years since I saw my father.
 Linking verbs – link a subject to a noun or adjective that names or
describes it.
Examples: Their dog is small. The popcorn smells delicious.
 Helping verbs – come before the main verb. Helps show the tense or
time of the action.
Examples: It will rain tomorrow. She is sitting on the chair. He was
copying the notes yesterday. They have been in Canada for 20 years. It
will have been seven years since I saw my father.
SUBJECT – names the person, place, or thing the sentence is about.
Examples: Our dog howled at the moon. She cancelled the class. The dirty,
crazy, homeless man wandered across the street.
OBJECT – a noun, a noun phrase, or pronoun that refers to the person or thing
that is affected by the action of the verb.
Examples: Our dog howled at the moon. She cancelled the class. The dirty,
crazy, homeless man wandered across the street. She is sitting on the chair.
He was copying the notes yesterday. They have been in Canada for 20 years.
PRONOUN – a word that is used instead of a noun or noun phrase. There are
several kinds of pronouns.
 Subject Pronouns – replaces a noun used as the subject of a sentence.
I
He
She
It
We
They
You
Examples: He is a doctor. We are late for class. You haven’t gone to
bed yet.
 Object Pronouns – replaces a noun used after an action verb or
preposition.
me
him
her
it
us
them
you
Examples: The student gave her the textbooks. Pick them up after
school. Henry tried to catch the leaves as they were falling around him.
 Possessive Pronouns – refers to whom a noun belongs to
mine
his
hers
its
ours
theirs
yours
Examples: These books are mine. I don’t want hers. Those boots are
theirs.
 Reflexive Pronouns – refers back to the subject of the sentence.
myself
himself
herself
itself
ourselves
themselves
yourselves
Examples: I looked at myself in the mirror. Mary did this project all by
herself. The hikers found themselves lost in the forest.
 Indefinite Pronouns – does not name the words they replace.
everyone
other
everything
each
anybody
nothing
somebody
something
no one
none
Examples: Anybody can see the lamp is broken. No one was home, so
we left a note. Somebody should pick up the children’s toys.
 Demonstrative Pronouns – points out a noun without naming it
specifically.
that
this
these
those
Examples: That is a great idea! These are the best ones.
 Interrogative Pronouns – used in asking a question.
Who
whose
whom
which
what
Examples: What was that loud noise? Who will be there? With whom
are you talking? Which is your house?
ADJECTIVE – describes nouns or pronouns. They can describe what kind,
which one, or how many nouns or pronouns there are. Adjectives are usually
located before the noun they are describing.
Examples: The mighty elephant pushed the large rock. Several yellow
migrating birds landed on the tree. Those three girls created a beautiful
painting.
 Demonstrative Adjectives – point out a specific person, place, or thing.
Examples: This bike belongs to me. I bought that coat last week. These
books are mine.
 Comparative Adjectives – used to compare two nouns to each other.
Some comparative adjectives are made by adding –er to the adjective.
Some adjectives with two or more syllables use the words more or less
with the adjective.
Examples: The girl is smaller than the boy. The ballerina is more graceful
than any other dancer.
 Superlative Adjectives – used to compare three or more nouns. Some
superlative adjectives are made by adding –est to the adjective. Some
adjectives with two or more syllables use most or least with the
adjective.
Examples: Sarah is the youngest child in her family. She is the least able to
do things for herself. She is the most beautiful woman in the world.
ADVERB – is a word that describes a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.
An adverb can tell:
 How: We did our homework carefully.
 When: They often play music together.
 Where: We went away to camp for a week.
 To what extent: He really likes to play soccer.
PREPOSITION – is used to show the relationship of a noun or pronoun to
another word in the sentence.
about
above
after
at
behind
below
between
down
during
for
from
in
inside
of
off
on
outside
through
to
under
with
Examples: She doesn’t know anything about the accident. We aren’t supposed to eat
during class. The dog is inside the house. He slept through the bus ride.
ARTICLE – is placed before nouns. An article is used when there is a singular
noun.
 Indefinite article: a or an
Examples: A book is sitting on the desk. An insect is crawling up your sleeve.
She has an awful cold. They haven’t been to a movie in a long time.
 Definite article: the
Examples: The book on the desk is very good. The insect crawling up your
sleeve is a wasp. She has the worst cold she has ever had in her life. They
haven’t seen the hit movie of the summer.
TRY THIS: Look at the following sentences. Can you identify each part of the
sentence?
For example:
The oldest battered car spewed oil as it went down the street.
(article)
(superlative) (adjective)
(subject) (verb)
(noun) (pronoun) (adverb) (preposition) (article) (noun)
1. An old crippled man left his house on Saturday and never came back.
2. We lazed around the pool all day.
3. I’d appreciate your co-operation in clearing the hallway.
4. The traffic was held up for over two hours.
5. Police are searching for a man who escaped from the Pentonville prison earlier
today.
6. Can we make space for an extra chair?
7. Extra money has been found for this project but it is not very much.