Download Unit 1: Parts of Speech

Unit 1: Parts of Speech
Nouns: Singular, Plural, and Collective
A noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea. A singular noun names one person,
place, thing, or idea, and a plural noun names more than one. Most plural nouns are formed by
adding –s to the singular form. Words that end in ch, sh, s, x, or z form the plural by adding –es.
Words that end in a consonant and y form the plural by changing y to i and adding –es. Some plurals
are formed irregularly, for example, child, children; foot, feet; mouse, mice. Some singular and plural
forms are the same, for example, sheep, deer, series.
Person:
Place:
SINGULAR PLURAL
child
children
corner
corners
Thing:
Idea:
SINGULAR PLURAL
piano
pianos
religion
religions
A collective noun names a group. A collective noun is singular when it refers to the group as a whole.
It is plural when it refers to the individual members of a group.
The jury is still deliberating. (singular)
The jury are arguing loudly. (plural)
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Nouns: Proper and Common; Concrete and Abstract
A proper noun is a noun that names a particular person, place, thing, or idea. A proper noun begins
with a capital letter. A common noun is the general name of a person, place, thing, or idea.
Person:
Place:
Thing:
Idea:
PROPER
Uncle Al
Dominican Republic
Schindler’s List
the Renaissance
COMMON
uncle
country
movie
era
A concrete noun names an object that occupies space or can be recognized by any of the senses. An
abstract noun names an idea, quality, or characteristic.
Concrete:
Abstract:
sneeze, star, explosion, hedgehog, chimney
politeness, ability, honesty, love, beauty
Pronouns: Personal and Possessive; Reflexive and Intensive
A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun, a group of words acting as a noun, or another
pronoun. A personal pronoun refers to a specific person or thing and can be either singular or plural.
The first person indicates the person speaking. The second person indicates the person being
addressed. The third person indicates the person or thing being discussed.
First Person
Second Person
Third Person
SINGULAR
I, me
you
he, him
she, her, it
PLURAL
we, us
you
they, them
We are aware that you will be bringing them to the party.
A possessive pronoun indicates possession or ownership. It takes the place of the possessive form of
a noun.
First Person
Second Person
Third Person
SINGULAR
my, mine
your, yours
his their, theirs
her, hers, its
PLURAL
our, ours
your, yours
My coat and your bookbag are in her locker.
A reflexive pronoun refers to a noun or another pronoun and indicates that the same person or thing is
involved. An intensive pronoun adds emphasis to a noun or another pronoun.
First Person
Second Person
Third Person
SINGULAR
myself
yourself
himself, herself, itself
PLURAL
ourselves
yourselves
themselves
Reflexive: I bought myself a pair of jeans.
Intensive: I myself bought a pair of jeans.
Pronouns: Interrogative, Relative, Demonstrative, Indefinite
A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun, a group of words acting as a noun, or another
pronoun. An interrogative pronoun is used to form a question.
who
whom
whose
Which is the correct answer?
what
which
A relative pronoun is used to begin some subject-verb word groups called subordinate clauses.
who
whichever
whom
that
whose
what
whoever
whosoever
whomever
whatever
which
Maya is the student who wrote the article.
A demonstrative pronoun points out specific persons, places, things, or ideas.
this
these
that
those
These are the most interesting videodiscs.
An indefinite pronoun refers to persons, places, or things in a more general way than a noun does.
all
another
any
anybody
anything
both
each
either
enough
everyone
everything
few
many
most
nobody
none
no one
nothing
one
others
several
some
somebody
someone
Few are ever found again.
Adjectives
An adjective is a word that modifies a noun or pronoun by limiting its meaning.
shiny toaster
friendly neighbor
horrible accident
green bird
that book
Articles are the adjectives a, an, and the. A and an are indefinite articles. The is the definite article.
Possessive pronouns, such as my and our, can be considered adjectives because they modify nouns.
Similarly, possessive forms of nouns, such as Roger’s and the captain’s, can also be considered
adjectives.
A proper adjective is formed from a proper noun and begins with a capital letter.
Cervantes was a Spanish writer.
The Korean restaurant is very popular.
Verbs: Action (Transitive / Intransitive)
A verb is a word that expresses action or a state of being and is necessary to make a statement. An
action verb tells what someone or something does. Some action verbs express physical action. Other
action verbs express mental action. A transitive verb is an action verb that is followed by a word or
words that answer the question what? or whom?
The dancer performed the most difficult movements. (The action verb performed is followed by the
noun movements, which answers the question what?)
An intransitive verb is an action verb that is not followed by words that answer the question what? or
whom?
The dancer performed gracefully. (The action verb performed is followed by a word that tells how.)
Verbs: Linking
A linking verb links, or joins, the subject of a sentence (often a noun or pronoun) with a word or
expression that identifies or describes the subject. Be in all its forms (am, is, are, was, were, been,
being) is the most common linking verb. Other linking verbs include look, sound, feel, grow, remain,
stay, seem, appear, become, and taste.
I am a soldier.
The opera sounded wonderful.
Bananas were plentiful.
She felt sad.
Verb Phrases
The verb in a sentence may consist of more than one word. The words that accompany the main verb
are called auxiliary, or helping, verbs. A verb phrase consists of a main verb and all its auxiliary
verbs.
forms of be
forms of have
other auxiliaries
am, is, are, was, were, being, been
has, have, had
can, could, may, might, shall, will, do, does, did, must, should, would
The most common auxiliary verbs are the forms of be and have.
They are going. They have gone. They had been going.
The other auxiliary verbs are not used primarily to express time.
She should be arriving.
She could already be sitting there.
Could she have arrived?
Adverbs
An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb by making its meaning more
specific. Adverbs modify by answering the questions when? where? how? and to what extent?
We left early for the soccer game. (The adverb early modifies the verb left by answering the question
when?)
Janine waited there for the bus. (The adverb there modifies the verb waited by the answering the
question where?)
The nurse quietly shut the door of the hospital room. (The adverb quietly modifies the verb shut by
answering the question how?)
Very few parts of life are completely perfect. (The adverb completely modifies the adjective perfect
by answering the question to what degree?)
Negative words, such as not and its contraction –n’t, are also considered adverbs. Other negative
words such as nowhere, hardly, and never can also function as adverbs.
The boat has not arrived.
I have never eaten squid.
Prepositions
A preposition is a word that shows the relationship of a noun or a pronoun to some other word in a
sentence.
We’ll go there after lunch.
The cat food is inside the cupboard.
These are some commonly used prepositions:
aboard
about
above
across
after
against
along
amid
among
around
as
at
before
behind
below
beneath
beside
besides
between
beyond
but (except)
by
concerning
despite
down
during
except
excepting
for
from
in
inside
into
like
near
of
off
on
onto
opposite
out
outside
over
past
pending
regarding
since
through
throughout
to
toward
under
underneath
until
unto
up
upon
with
within
without
A compound preposition is a preposition made up of more than one word.
according to
ahead of
along with
apart from
aside from
as to
because of
in front of
by means of in spite of
in addition to instead of
next to
out of
on account of owing to
on top of
Prepositions begin phrases that generally end with a noun or a pronoun called the object of the
preposition.
The horses jumped over the fence.
They showered the king with gifts.
Conjunctions: Coordinating, Correlative, and Subordinating
A conjunction is a word that joins single words or groups of words. A coordinating conjunction
joins words or groups of words that have equal grammatical weight in a sentence. And, but, or, nor,
for, so, and yet are coordinating conjunctions.
Germain washed the dishes and dried them.
The squirrel buried the nut, but the dog dug it up.
Correlative conjunctions work in pairs to join words and groups of words of equal weight in a
sentence.
both. . .and
either. . .or
just as. . . so
neither. . .nor
not only. . .but also
whether. . .or
Both whales and dolphins are mammals.
Whether I fail or succeed, my parents will still support me.
A subordinating conjunction joins two ideas, or clauses, so that one is grammatically dependent on
the other.
after
although
as
as far as
as if
as long as
as soon as
as though
because
before
if
in order that
since
so
so that
than
though
unless
until
when
whenever
where
whereas
wherever
while
He listened to music until he fell asleep.
Whenever I see a mountain, I want to climb it.
Interjections
An interjection is a word that expresses emotion or exclamation. An interjection has no grammatical
connection to other words.
oh
gee
wow
ow
oops
hey
ouch well
hooray alas
whew ah
why man
yipes uh-oh
my
uh-huh
Why, I didn’t realize that. Oops, sorry about that. Uh-oh, she’d better watch out.