Download A Reference for Grammar

A Reference for Grammar
*borrowed from Sadlier-Oxford’s Grammar for Writing
Nouns
Whatever you name that you experience through your senses, thoughts, and feelings is a noun.
Nouns are words that name persons, places, things, or ideas.
Persons:
stepfather, Michael Jordan, acquaintance, Grant Hill, scientist
Places:
avenue, peninsula, Houston, New Mexico, White House
Things:
jeans, backpack, software, couch, television, music
Ideas:
calmness, freedom, friendship, self-confidence, pleasure
Nouns that name ideas are called abstract nouns. You use abstract nouns when writing or speaking about feelings, characteristics,
or qualities. By contrast, concrete nouns name things that you can see, hear, smell, taste, or touch.
Abstract:
love, innocence, knowledge, endurance
Concrete:
rain, finger, soil, computer, garage, parakeet
Proper Nouns name particular persons, places, things, ideas, or events. Always capitalize proper nouns. Some proper nouns contain
two or more words. Common nouns refer to general, not particular, persons, places, things, ideas, or events. Therefore, they are
not capitalized.
Common:
river, holiday, street, official, battle, ceiling
Proper:
Mississippi River, Earth Day, Richard the Lion-Hearted, Battle of Hastings
Collective nouns name a group of people, animals, or things.
Collective:
swarm, accumulation, couple, flock, student council
Compound nouns consist of two or more words. Use a dictionary to find out if a compound word is hyphenated, written as one
word, or written as two or more words.
Compound:
stepson, CD player, Declaration of Independence, air conditioner, great-aunt
A Noun Phrase is a group of words that acts like a noun in a sentence. Like other phrases, a noun phrase does not form a complete
sentence.
Writing Hint: Use nouns that are as specific as possible.
Decent Ex: The house on the hill overlooked the water.
Better Ex: The mansion on the sandy bluff overlooked the Gulf of Mexico.
Pronouns
It may seem necessary to repeat nouns in order to communicate ideas. But pronouns break the monotony of repeated nouns.
Pronouns are words that take the place of a noun or another pronoun.
Most pronouns clearly refer to a noun or a noun phrases in the same sentence or in a preceding sentence. The word or phrase the
pronoun replaces is known as its antecedent. The arrows in the following sentences point to the antecedents of the personal
pronouns and their possessive forms—the most common pronouns you use.
Aretha played a jazz medley on the trumpet for her classmates. It captured their interest. She
knew it would because she believed that the appreciation of jazz could be communicated
through her performance.
Indefinite pronouns express an amount or refer to an unspecified person or thing.
Some lingered outside the theater.
Nobody heard a word the actor said.
Demonstrative pronouns point to specific people or things.
This is exactly what the audience wants.
That was a moving performance.
Interrogative pronouns begin a question.
When will the play begin? Who has the lead? Where is it set?
Relative pronouns introduce adjective clauses.
The author whose books have won awards visited our school.
The topic that the author covered fascinated us.
Reflexive pronouns end in –self or –selves and refer to an earlier noun or pronoun in the sentence. These are called intensive
pronouns when they are used to add emphasis.
Manuel helped himself to a concert program. [reflexive]
I myself could never perform on stage. [intensive]
Personal Pronouns
I, me, we, us, you, he, him, she, her, it, they, them
Possessive Pronouns
my, mine, our, ours, your, yours, her, hers, his, its, their, theirs
Some Indefinite Pronouns
all, any, anyone, both, either, everyone, few, most, nobody, no one, several, somebody, another,
anybody, anything, each, everybody, everything, many, neither, none, one, some, someone
Demonstrative Pronouns
this, that, these, those
Some Interrogative Pronouns
Who? What? When? Where? Which? Whom? Whose?
Relative Pronouns
that, which, who, whom, whose, where
Reflexive & Intensive Pronouns
myself, himself, itself, yourselves, yourself, herself, ourselves, themselves
Verbs
Verbs are words that express an action or a state of being. Every complete sentence has at least one verb.
Action verbs come in two varieties. You can observe some action verbs: rebound, echo, squirm. Others express emotions: envy,
despise, cherish.
Luis hit a double, while Johnny dashed for home plate. The fans hoped their team scored.
Verbs change form to indicate time.
Some action verbs (v) take direct objects (DO).
The pitcher threw (v) the ball (DO).
Linking verbs join—or link—the subject of a sentence with a word that identifies or describes it.
From an airplane, a highway seems narrow.
Some verbs can be both linking and action verbs—but not at the same time. They are used as linking verbs only when they precede
a word that identifies or describes the subject.
Linking Verb
I feel much better.
She remains a good friend.
Action Verb
I feel the bumps.
She remains in her seat.
A verb phrase contains the main verb plus one or more helping (or auxiliary) verbs (HV). Not (n’t in a contraction) is never part of
the verb phrase.
Couldn’t (HV) David meet (V) us at the movies?
She must have been (HV) shopping (V) for hours.
Linking Verbs—Some forms of To Be
am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been
Linking Verbs—Some other forms
appear, feel, look, seem, sound, taste, become, grow, remain, smell, stay, turn
Helping Verbs
have, do, can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would
Writing Hint: To communicate ideas with precision and appeal, use strong verbs rather than a form of the verb to be.
Decent Ex:
His preference is comedies.
Better Ex:
He prefers comedies.
Adjectives
Adjectives help readers picture things accurately and precisely.
Adjectives are modifiers. They give information about the nouns and pronouns they modify (describe).
What kind?
Slippery ice, sophisticated remark, brilliant color, silent room
How many?
Two months, several poems
How much?
More cake, less milk
Which one?
Worst movie, last train, that concert, third apartment
A noun may be modified by two or more adjectives.
The tall, majestic skyscraper loomed before us.
The weather was not only dry, but hot.
The adjectives a and an are called indefinite articles because they refer to any one member of a group. The adjective the is known
as the definite article because it points out a particular noun.
Indefinite
You can write a humorous poem.
Definite
The humorous poem you wrote made me howl with laughter.
Proper Adjectives, which are derived from proper nouns, always begin with a capital letter.
Southern accent, Mexican pyramids, Korean painting, Franklin stove
Adjectives usually come right before the nouns they modify, but predicate adjectives follow a linking verb to modify the subject of a
sentence.
The bus trip was difficult.
The sky appears blue and clear.
When a noun or a possessive pronoun modifies another noun, it functions as an adjective.
Epic poem, office building, his mitt, baseball bat, kitchen sink, their wedding
Writing Hint: For more vivid writing, try combining two adjectives, or two words that function as adjectives, to create one specific
modifier—a compound adjective. Many compound adjectives are hyphenated.
The mayor retained decision-making authority.
A self-appointed leader helped the committee solve its problem.
Adverbs
To describe an action completely and clearly, you sometimes use a modifier called an adverb.
Adverbs modify, describe, or tell more about verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.
Modifies a verb
The athlete ran quickly.
Modifies an adjective
They swam in a pleasantly cool lake.
Modifies an adverb
Who can sit most quietly?
Many adverbs may come either before or after the verbs they modify.
Briskly, the horse rounded the bend. The horse rounded the bend briskly. The horse briskly rounded the bend.
Many adverbs end with the suffix –ly (slowly, modestly, thoughtfully, for example). However, many common adverbs do not end in
–ly (today, much, already).
Intensifiers are adverbs that answer the question to what extent?
The game was the least interesting of all.
We ate too much food.
Some Common Adverbs that do not end in –ly
Almost, already, also, always, fast, here, just, late, more, much, never, not (n’t), seldom, still, then, there, today, tomorrow, too,
well, yesterday, yet
Some Common Intensifiers
Less, least, more, most, nearly, only, quite, rather, really, so, somewhat, too, truly, very, exceptionally, extraordinarily
Prepositions
Prepositional phrases add color and depth to writing, amplifying the thoughts in a sentence.
Prepositions connect a noun or pronoun to another word in the sentence to form a prepositional phrase.
beneath the carpet, toward a greater understanding
Some prepositions are compound (made up of more than one word).
in spite of them, according to the Constitution
Words that are prepositions in one sentence may be adverbs in another sentence. Look to see if a word starts a prepositional
phrase. If it does not, it is an adverb.
Adverbs
Get inside quickly. Set the food down on the table.
Prepositions
The treasure is inside the cave. The mouse ran down the clock.
Some Commonly Used Prepositions *please refer to your master list for studying purposes
About, above, across, after, against, along, amid, among, around, as, at, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, beyond,
but, by, despite, down, during, except, for, from, in, inside, into, like, near, of, off, on, onto, out, outside, over, since, through, to,
toward, under, underneath, until, up, upon, with, within, without
Some Common Compound Prepositions
According to, along with, apart from, aside from, due to, because of, in front of, in place of, in spite of, instead of, in addition to
Conjunctions and Interjections
Conjunctions join words or groups of words.
Coordinating conjunctions join words or groups of words that are equal in importance.
Thunder, lightning, and hail hit the area. The thunder and lightning finally stopped, but the hail kept falling.
Correlative conjunctions are always used in pairs.
Either it’s raining or snowing. Both you and I are going dancing.
Neither Lakisha nor Abdul took first prize.
Just as thunder rumbles, so (too) lightning eventually strikes.
Place correlative conjunctions correctly when you write. The words or phrases joined by a correlative conjunction should play the
same role in the sentence. For example, the conjunction might join two subjects or two clauses.
Incorrect
Either people love frog legs or hate them.
Correct
People either love frog legs or hate them.
Correct
Either people love frog legs or they hate them.
Incorrect
Either the girls went to the mall or to the grocery store.
Correct
Either the girls went to the mall or they went to the grocery store.
Correct
The girls went either to the mall or to the grocery store.
Subordinating conjunctions connect adverb clauses to the main clauses.
The author smiled because a reader asked for her autograph.
We studied together so that we could all pass the test.
The team needs more practice since the game is tomorrow.
Interjections express mild or strong emotion.
Interjections have no grammatical connection to the rest of the sentence. They are set off be a comma or an exclamation point.
Darn! I forgot my book again. No way! I certainly will not resign. She exclaimed, “Wow! What a parade!”
Coordinating Conjuctions
And, but, or, nor, yet
Some Correlative Conjuctions
Both…and, either…or, neither…nor, not only…but also, whether…or, just as…so (too)
Some Common Subordinating Conjunctions
After, although, as far as, as long as, as soon as, as though, because, before, if, while, in order that, provided that, since, so that,
unless, until, when, where, whereas
Some Common Interjections
Aha, cool, ouch, ugh