Download Yr 8 and 9 Literacy - Set Three

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Year 8 & 9 Literacy Tasks – Set Three
Task One
Parts of Speech
Nouns - a definition
Nouns are naming words.
Hint: for all but proper nouns, you can easily tell if a word is a noun by putting the in front of the
word: the piano, the girl but not the Sally .
Nouns can be singular (goose) or plural (geese)
A noun group consists of a noun as head word and other words – such as adjectives – that depend
on it. Noun groups really improve the quality of your writing.
Examples of noun groups:

the old grey horse

a well-designed surf ski

the dark, decrepit, scary old mansion house.
Types of Nouns

Proper nouns – name people, places, days and months. They always require a capital letter.

Example: Australia’s most famous cricketer is Sir Donald Bradman.
Common nouns - refer to anything we can see, hear or touch.
Example: The screech of an owl rose above the noise of the wind.
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Abstract nouns - these refer to a state, quality or feeling – something we cannot see, hear or
touch.
Example: The dingo’s hunger for her family led her on a search for their love.
Collective nouns - the name given to a number of persons or things considered as a group.
These can be individual words or phrases.
Example: The audience was spellbound during the concert.
A pride of lions roamed the African savannah.
Activity One – Nouns
Underline the nouns in the following sentences. Use an S for singular or P for plural to
indicate the number of the noun.
1. There was a robbery at the shop on Thursday.
2. The bees settled on the bushes in the back yard.
3. Many people have taken up walking to keep fit.
Underline the noun group in each of the following sentences:
1. The long bush walk was very tiring.
2. James arrived on his shiny new red roller blades.
3. Gemma has just heard the good news.
Pronouns – a definition
A pronoun is a word that stands in place of a noun.
There are three persons – first, second and third person, depending on whether the pronoun
represents the person speaking (first), the person spoken to (second), or the person spoken about
(third).
Pronouns can be singular or plural:
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



I went to the shop. ( I is first person singular)
You should do your homework. (You is second person singular/plural)
She hurt her leg. (She is third person singular)
We should play football. (We is first person plural)
The girls behaved well; they should be rewarded. (they is third person plural).
Types of Pronouns
PERSONAL PRONOUNS – stand instead of nouns referring to persons or things. Examples include: I,
me, my, mine, you your, yours, he, him, his, she, her, hers, it, its, we, us, our, ours, they, them,
their, theirs.
Examples:
• Lee has a long way to go so she travels to school by car. (The pronoun she refers back to the
noun Lee).
• I love oysters but Tim hates them. (The pronoun them refers back to the noun oysters).
• Tanya kicked the ball. It broke a window. (The pronoun it refers back to ball).
POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS - a special type of personal pronoun that indicates ownership or possession.
These are: mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs.
Examples:
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


These books are ours.
Yours is the one on the shelf.
Jane has eaten hers.
Which car is theirs?
RELATIVE PRONOUNS - introduce clauses and relate them back to the noun to which they apply.
These are: who, whom, whose, that, which.
Examples:




The surfer who won the event came from Noosa. ( Who is the subject of won)
It was easy to see who was at fault. (Who is the subject of was)
Lina wrote to the Balinese girl whom she met on holidays. ( Whom is the object of met)
The students discussed to whom they would donate the money. ( Whom is the object of the
preposition to).
Activity Two – Pronouns
Identify the pronouns in the following sentences:
1. Whom did you say they saw at the park?
2. I noticed the similarity as soon as she placed hers on the table.
3. This is his, not ours.
4. Didn’t she realise that he hadn’t shut the door behind him?
Select the correct form of the pronoun in these sentences.
1. Kelsey and (I/me) saw John at the movies.
2. Bob and Joseph were with (I/me) at the skate park.
3. (Whose/Who’s) voice was that?
4. (Us/we) teenagers don’t want to be told by adults what to do.
5. This is the young man (who/whom/that) returned my purse when I lost it.
Adjectives – a definition
An adjective is a describing word that tells us about a noun or pronoun. Adjectives modify nouns. An
adjective group or adjectival phrase consists of one or more adjectives and/or adverbs.
Example: The very highly qualified doctor began work on Tuesday.
(Adjective group) (Noun)
Adjectives describe the attributes or features of nouns.
Examples:
 Tickets to the opera are expensive.
(Noun group)
(Adjective)
 A huge humpback whale circled our boat.
(Adjectives as part of noun group)
Types of Adjectives
Proper adjectives: these are formed from a proper name.
 An American tourist, a German sausage, the Australian bush
Descriptive adjectives: these describe a feeling or quality.
 A sour lemon, a proud parent, a painful injury, a pleasant personality
Quantitative adjectives: these indicate how much of something is spoken about.
 Did the accident cause much damage? Your work shows little improvement.
Adjectives of number: these indicate number of things.
 Sarah won two races. The fifth race began after lunch.
Indefinite adjectives: these indicate number without giving a definite number.
 The many jobless are looking for work.
Activity 3 – Adjectives
There are two adjectives in each of these sentences. Write out the two for each sentence below:
1. John walked to school in his bare feet even on cold days.
2. Stop the wild noise and the extraordinary behaviour!
3. I had to eat six carrots and four apples.
4. Stormy weather is predicted for the last race.
5. Several crimes occurred in the central city.
Types of Adjectives
Demonstrative adjectives: point out which particular thing is indicated.
 This girl is feeling ill. Put those flowers in a vase.
Interrogative adjectives: these ask a question.
 Whose pencil is this? Which book will you read first?
Possessive adjectives: denote ownership.
 my book, his hat, your car, their dog.
Comparative adjectives: can be used in three forms called degrees of comparison.
Positive
Comparative
Superlative
Brave
braver
bravest
(one syllable words)
Deep
deeper
deepest
Easy
easier
easiest
(words ending in ‘y)
Active
more active
most active (words of 2 syllables or more)
Activity 4 – Adjectives
Rewrite the following sentences with an appropriate comparative or superlative form of the
adjective.
1. Timothy was (short) than his friend James.
2. Aaron had the (clean) shoes of them all.
3. Fraser Island has one of the (beauty) coastlines in Australia.
4. Nerida was the (ambitious) of the two applicants for the job.
5. The (busy) day of the week is Friday.
Verbs – A definition
A verb is a doing or process word(s) in a sentence. It requires somebody or something to do it or
carry out the process. The participant or doer is the subject.
Example: The fish are biting. (subject/participant , process/verb)
Verbs represent various processes:
 doing - John rode his new bike.
 Being (existing) - There is a good movie on tonight.
- That pasta was delicious.
 Saying - Lina whispered her answer.
 Thinking or sensing - Sara knows the words of the song.
Types of verbs
TRANSITIVE VERBS – when a verb is used transitively, the action suggested by it passes from the
doer to something else:
SUBJECT
Rachael
VERB
OBJECT
chased
the dog
(Agent –doer)
(process-doing) (Affected – done to)
INTRANSITIVE VERBS – are used when the action does not pass to an object but stops with the doer:
SUBJECT
Mr Barrett
(Agent – doer)
VERB
smiled.
(process- doing)
AUXILIARY VERBS – are sub-ordinate words that join with a verb to form a verb group.
Frank (should have won) the race. ( Verb group with auxiliary verbs)
Auxiliary verbs can be seen as ‘helping’ verbs. The basic forms are:
be - 8 ways of using - be, am, is,
are, was, were, being, been

may – may, might
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must
have - have, has, had, having
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
do – do, does, did
will – will, would
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can – can, could
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Auxiliary verbs are used to:
Form tenses – The dog is chasing the cat. (present) I have tidied my room. (past)
Form voices – Paula has won the race. (active voice)
The race has been won by Maria. (passive voice)
Make a verb express modality - a sense of permission, obligation, ability, or a degree of
probability:
PERMISSION – You may leave the room.
OBLIGATION - Airline passengers must wear seatbelts on take-off.
PROBABILITY – The cyclone might cross the coast tonight.
Activity 5 – Verb/ Verb groups
Underline the verbs or verb groups in the following sentences:
1. The dog chased the huge pink elephant.
2. Brad swims in his pool each day when he arrives home from work.
3. Jazmine is jumping on the trampoline.
4. Next week I will be flying to Townsville in northern Queensland.
5. Baby Sam stood up, looked around, grinned knowingly and tottered to his Nan.
6. School began at nine o’clock and finished at three o’clock.
7. They were strong boys and were able to carry the heavy load easily.
8. The family strolled through the park.
9. The buses have stopped running late at night.
10. ‘I am running in the next race,’ said Judith.
11. I had been running hard when I tripped over.
12. We shall go to the pictures tomorrow.
13. Jessica should have asked first.
14. Rain may spoil the picnic.
15. Sarah will receive her prize tomorrow.
Verbs – finite & non-finite
There must be a finite verb in every sentence. A finite verb is a verb that has a subject.
Non-finite verbs are called infinitives. The non-finite parts of a verb are:
• THE INFINITIVE: to go, to do, to see
• THE PRESENT PARTICIPLE: going, doing, seeing
• THE PAST PARTICIPILE: gone, done, seen
The non-finite part of the verb cannot make sense when it follows a subject –
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
He . . . to go

She . . . riding
The boy . . . gone
To make sense these infinitives require a helping or auxiliary verb:
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He wants to go.
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She will be riding .

The boy has gone.
Tense is a form taken by the verb to indicate time – past, present or future – when a process or
action takes place. The following table indicates past, present and future in the simplest form.
Activity 6 – Verb Tense
Rewrite the following sentences in the tense indicated in the brackets.
1. Trevor knows how to keep a secret. (past tense)
2.
Jason is buying flowers for his mother’s birthday. (past tense)
3.
I was waiting for Helen. (present tense)
4.
Lauren won the cross country race every year. (present tense)
5.
Jessica did borrow her mother’s makeup. (present tense)
6.
I paid back the loan. (future tense)
7.
I had a great Christmas holiday. (future tense)
Task Two