Download Mountain Language FAQ - Xenia Community Schools

Mountain Language F.A.Q.
1. Noun: a person, place, thing, or concept/idea
Concrete Noun: A tangible noun. (Can see, smell, touch, hear, or taste)
Examples: flower, rain, person, desk, dog
Abstract Noun: An intangible noun. (cannot see, smell, touch, hear, or taste)
Examples: envy, joy, love, happiness
Collective Noun: A noun that is a collection of people or things that is regarded
as a single unit.
Examples: team, herd, group, population
Compound Noun: A noun made of two or more words.
Examples: southwest, flowerpot, basketball
2. Possessive Form: A noun or pronoun that shows ownership (usually ending in ‘s or s’)
Example: the school of Jorge = Jorge’s school
3. Verb: A word that expresses action or state of being (existence)
Active Verb: A verb in which the subject performs an action. (The performer)
Example: John planted a bed of flowers. (John(s) is planting (v))
Passive Verb: A verb in which the subject receives the action.
Example: A bed of flowers was planted by John. (flowers(s) were planted(v))
*the word by is a clue the verb is usually passive
4. Verb: A word that expresses action or state of being (existence)
Choose verbs in the correct tense and that are in correct form
Example: brought instead of brang or bringed
5. Complete sentence: A complete sentence contains a complete subject and predicate.
Vary sentence structure. Use simple, compound, complex, or compoundcomplex sentences.
6. Subject:: The subject of a sentence is the person, place, thing, or idea that
is doing something or being something.
Verb: A word that expresses action or state of being (existence)
Example: Sandra and Tom went to the store. (Sandra and Tom=S went=verb)
7. Adjective: A word that modifies (describes) a noun.
Example: John drives a red car. (adjective = red)
8. Adverb: A word that modifies (describes) a verb, adjective, or other adverb)
Example: Susie quickly ran to the store. (adverb = quickly)
*adverbs almost always end in -ly
9. Appropriate word: Check that the word is in correct form, that it is a real word, and
that it is in the correct tense.
10. Verb: A word that expresses action or state of being (existence)
Past Tenses:
-the simple past ("I went")
-the past progressive ("I was going")
-the past perfect ("I had gone")
-the past perfect progressive ("I had been going")
Present Tenses:
-the simple present ("I go")
-the present progressive ("I am going")
-the present perfect ("I have gone")
-the present perfect progressive ("I have been going")
*Note that the present perfect and present perfect progressive are a present not past
tenses -- that idea is that the speaker is currently in the state of having gone or having been going.
Future Tenses:
-the simple future ("I will go")
-the future progressive ("I will be going")
-the future perfect ("I will have gone")
-the future perfect progressive ("I will have been going")
11. Pronoun: A pronoun replaces a noun.
Examples: he, she, him, it, they, us, I, our, we, me, him, her, them
12. Demonstrative Pronoun: points out a specific person, place, or thing.
-this, that, these, those
Interrogative Pronoun: used to begin a question
-who, whom, whose, what, which
Intensive Pronoun: re-emphasizes a noun/pronoun to avoid repetition.
-myself, himself, herself, yourself, itself, ourselves
Personal Pronoun: Refers to the first, second, or third persons
-First: I, me, my, mine, we, us, ours, our
-Second: you, your, yours
-Third: he, she, him, her, his, her, it, its, they, their, theirs, them
Relative Pronoun: relates one part of the sentence to the rest of the sentence
-whose, who, whom, which, that, whomever, whoever, (what, when, where)
Indefinite Pronoun: refers to a noun that is not specifically named
-all, another, any, anybody, anyone, anything, both, each, everybody, everyone,
everything, few, many, most, much, nobody, none, nothing, other, several,
some, somebody, someone, something
13. Pronoun: A pronoun replaces a noun.
Examples: he, she, him, it, they, us, I, our, we, me, him, her, them
14. Appositive: is a noun or pronoun that identifies or explains the noun or pronoun it
follows. Use commas to set apart the appositive. The appositive is not essential to the
meaning of the sentence.
Example: Peter’s school, Cope Middle School, is having a fundraiser.
15. Prefix: an affix attached to the beginning of a word (reapply)
Suffix: an affix added to the end of a word (fearless)
Root: a word part carrying the main meaning; affixes are added to change meaning
Example: circumnavigate circum = prefix, gate = suffix, navi = root
16. Declarative Sentence: a sentence that makes a statement
Example: I have not eaten since noon.
Imperative Sentence: a sentence that makes a command or order
Example: Give me some food.
Interrogative Sentence: a sentence that asks a question
Example: Will you cook me a meal?
Exclamatory Sentence: a sentence that shows strong emotion
Example: I am starving!
20. Simple Sentence: A sentence that has a single subject and a single predicate.
Example: The boys played basketball.
Compound Sentence: A sentence that has two or more independent clauses joined
with a comma and conjunction or a semicolon.
Examples: The girls played baseball, and they beat the other team.
The girls played baseball; they beat the other team.
Complex Sentence: A sentence that contains one or more subordinate
(dependent) clause and one independent clauses.
Examples: We laughed when he made a joke.
Before school started, we bought donuts.
Compound-Complex Sentence: A sentence that contains one or more subordinate
(dependent) clause and two or more independent clauses.
Examples: John went to school, but James remained at home because he had
a sore throat.
Those clouds promise rain; we should hurry before we get caught
in a flash flood.
Notes:
17. Predicate Noun: a NOUN or noun phrase in the predicate of the sentence that
describes or identifies the subject
Example: He became a mathematician.
Predicate Pronoun: a PRONOUN in the predicate that describes or identifies the
subject
Example: The winner is she.
Predicate Adjective: an ADJECTIVE in the predicate that follows a linking verb and
describes the subject
Example: The car is red.
Direct Object: a word or phrase receiving the action of the verb; answers the
question what?
Example: Jacob will mail the letter.
Indirect Object: to whom or for whom the action is being performed
Example: Sing me a song.
18. Preposition: a word placed typically before a noun that shows the relationship
between the noun and another word or phrase in the sentence.
Prepositional Phrase: A phrase that consists of a preposition and its object (noun or pronoun)
Examples: in the house, by him, off the table
19. Editing: Proofread and write the sentence correctly. Make corrections to capitalization,
punctuation, and spelling.