Download CH 1 - Parts of Speech

CHAPTER
1
Lesson 1.1: Parts of Speech
The English language is pretty easy if we think of sentences like math problems. Every word has a value,
and interacts with other words in the same way. We have grouped our words into nine categories, or
parts of speech, which instinctively guide some of the choices we make.
The following parts of speech need to be memorized for this chapter’s quiz:
Noun
Pronoun
Adjective
Verb
Adverb
Preposition
Conjunction
Interjection
Article
Look at the sentence below. Can you tell how each word is functioning in the sentence? Write the
correct part of speech in the box pointing to each word:
Wow – the eager and excited students run immediately to their teachers for lessons!
NOUNS are often taught as people, places, objects, and ideas/concepts. They are the subjects and objects of
sentences. In the sentence above, the following words act as nouns: students, teachers, lessons
PRONOUNS are replacements for nouns. We use these to prevent our sentence from getting too
repetitive. They can indicate gender, number, or possession. They can be subjects or objects. In the
sentence above, the following word acts as a pronoun: their
ADJECTIVES are describing words that more specifically illustrate nouns. In the sentence above, the
following words act as adjectives: eager, excited
VERBS are action words that show what the nouns are doing. In the sentence above, the following
word is a verb: run
ADVERBS modify verbs to explain how the action occurs. They often, but not always, end with –ly. In
the sentence above, the following word is an adverb: immediately
PREPOSITIONS indicate direction in time, space, or location. They connect nouns/pronouns to the
other parts of the sentence. In the sentence above, the following words are prepositions: to, for
CONJUNCTIONS join relationships between similar parts of speech if there are two or more in a sentence.
Common conjunctions are: for, and, nor, but, or, yet. In our sentence, the conjunction is: and
INTERJECTIONS are nonsense words or phrases that interrupt a sentence and express emotion. In the
sentence above, the following words is an interjection: Wow
ARTICLES are a, an, and the. They are technically types of adjectives, as they describe whether a noun is
general or specific. In the sentence above, the following word is an article: the
Exercise 1.1: Write the parts of speech of the underlined words on the lines provided.
A. Luis and Laura have yellow bicycles.
1
____________________ ____________________
2
1
B. I try to do chores around the house.
____________________
3
3
C. Either a cat or a dog requires lots of attention.
4
2
5
4
D. The lake seems very polluted to me.
6
5
____________________ ____________________
7
6
E. Gosh, I didn’t realize I had to study carefully!
8
____________________ ____________________
9
7
____________________ ____________________
8
9
Lesson 1.2: Nouns and Pronouns
NOUNS
Nouns are considered people, places, objects, and ideas/concepts. What does that mean?
PEOPLE: Mary and Oliver wrote cards to thank all of the doctors and nurses who donated their time.
People
PLACES: When we left the airport, Bill remarked that our diner downtown is better than a restaurant in Paris!
Places
OBJECTS/THINGS: We saw the cat on the grass playing with some twigs and leaves.
Objects/Things
IDEAS/CONCEPTS: A little kindness helps others choose peace instead of war and opens their capacity for love.
Ideas/Concepts
PLURAL NOUNS: Women and children were helped into the boats before the men.
Plural
PROPER NOUNS: Harry Foster moved to Chicago, Illinois, to start his company: Custom Chairs, Inc.
Proper
Use the space to define these types of nouns. Then, in the boxes, write an example of each type of noun
that you come up with on your own.
Understanding nouns seems basic – children have, in fact, been learning about nouns in school since
they were small, and babies learn nouns before any other part of speech. They are the essential
components of sentences, and all other parts of speech are constructed around explaining the actions
and descriptions of the words you want to use.
PRONOUNS
Pronouns are replacements for specific nouns in a sentence. The noun or nouns that the pronoun
replaces should be clear for the sentence to be correct. Look at these examples and circle the pronouns:
The baby looked very proud of herself when she learned to crawl across the room.
In the fall, students apply to colleges all over America. Many are from foreign countries.
Has everybody had a chance to see the museum exhibit?
The noun(s) that get replaced by pronouns are called the “antecedents” of the pronouns. In the
examples above, two sentences have clearly stated antecedents – that is, the noun that the pronoun
replaces is easy to spot. Put an “A” over the antecedents in the first two sentences. Put a “
“ next to
the sentence where the antecedent is implied, but not directly mentioned. In Chapter 5, you will see
more pronoun-antecedent practices.
Below is a list of words that can be used as noun replacements, or pronouns for an antecedent:
anybody
anyone
anything
I
it(s)
itself
both *
many *
me
mine
my
myself
each *
each other
either
everybody
everyone
everything
he
her
hers
herself
him
himself
his
neither
no one
nobody
none
one *
one another
other(s)
our(s)
ourselves
she
somebody
someone
something
you
your(s)
yourself
yourselves
their(s)
them
themselves
these
they
this
those
CAUTION!
us
we
what(ever)
which(ever)
who(ever)
whom(ever)
whose
* BE CAREFUL: Some
of the words listed here can
be used as adjectives, too!
Note the difference:
I like many rock bands.
Adj. (describes quantity)
Many of them are alternative.
Pr. (replaces noun “bands”)
(See Lessons 1.3 and 1.4
for more information about it)
Exercise 1.2: Fill in the missing noun or pronoun in the sentence with a logical answer, and put P or N in
the box to explain which part of speech you needed to provide.
1. The most annoying thing about my sister is that ______________ always wants to wear my clothes!
2. At the concert, the _________________ played so loudly that his hearing was damaged.
3. ______________________ are my favorite animals, because they are beautiful and interesting.
4. Isn’t _______________________ going to answer the door?
5. _____________________ of the teammates received scholarships to play ball at the same college.
Lesson 1.3: Adjectives and Articles
Adjectives are words that provide more information about the nouns in the sentence. Technically,
“the,” “a,” and “an” are adjectives, in that these articles help us understand how specific a given noun is.
What is the difference between these two sentences?
1. The girl likes to watch a television show before doing her homework.
2. A girl likes to watch the television show before doing her homework.
*** REMINDER: What is the difference between A and AN?
THINK
ABOUT IT!
Lesson 1.4: Looking Carefully…
Be careful! The English language can be tricky! Lots of words in English can be used as different parts of
speech. It is impossible to classify words without reading the full intention of the sentence:
Word: CUT
Noun: I have a cut on my hand.
Verb: Try to cut the meat into small pieces.
Word: RUN
Noun: The participants lined up for the 5K run.
Verb: Jeffrey likes to run on the track after school.
Word: LAUGHING
Verb: Look at the kids laughing at jokes!
Adjective: The laughing audience cheered for more.
Word: BROKE
Verb: The window broke when the baseball hit it.
Adjective: He wants to buy a ticket, but he is broke.
Word: ONE
Pronoun: If one needs a boost, drink some juice.
Adjective: I have one dog and one cat.
Word: TO
Verb (Infinitive): We try to speak Spanish in town.
Preposition: The girls go to American University.
Exercise 1.4: Choose any three words from the list, or come up with your own, and write two sentences
using the word. Be sure that you show how this word could be more than one part of speech, and label
how the word is used in each of the sentences (part of speech) on each line provided.
arm
bite
ditch
each
grinning
lead
make
orange
pale
step
trust
two
vote
water
yelling
1. A.
_____________
B.
_____________
2. A.
_____________
B.
_____________
3. A.
_____________
B.
_____________
Lesson 1.5: Verbs
Verbs function in different ways in sentences. We often call them “action words,” but that is not always
accurate. These are three types of verbs that you will need to recognize and remember:
Action Verbs
Linking Verbs
Auxiliary Verbs
Action Verbs
Action verbs are the verbs most people are comfortable with: the subject of the sentence is
doing something, and that action is the verb. Check out the action verbs below in…well…action:
Mark drives into the garage.
Action word is: __________________
Kathy studied art history in France.
Action word is: __________________
Ryan whines so loudly!
Action word is: __________________
How did Evan grow so quickly?
Action word is: __________________
Linking Verbs are verbs that are connecting the subject of the sentence to a description of that subject.
It’s easy to find linking verbs when you think of this type as what the subject does, but what words are
describing the subject…which most of the time will be adjectives:
Action: The puppy looked for sticks.
versus
Linking: The puppy looked sad.
These words are often – but not always – linking verbs, when they are used to describe the subject:
Am
Appears
Are
Become
Is Looks Remains
Seems
Smell
Tastes
Was
Were
To check a verb if you’re not sure, see if you can replace it with a form of “to be,” like am, is, or are. If
the sentence still makes sense, then the verb is a linking verb! If it doesn’t make sense, then the verb is
an action that the subject is doing. Look at the example below:
Linking: That pasta tasted wonderful.
Check: pasta is wonderful, wonderful pasta, pasta = wonderful
Action: The girls tasted the pasta.
Check: The girls are the pasta (no), pasta are the girls (no) girls = pasta (no)
Now you try one. Label which sentence is “action” and which is “linking”:
I appeared confused by the directions.
___________________
I appeared to check out the competition.
___________________
Exercise 1.5: Identify the active verb in the sentence by circling it. On the line provided, please write
whether the verb is functioning as an “action verb” or a “linking verb”.
1. The doorbell rang loudly.
_________________________
2. They stayed really happy all day.
_________________________
3. Unfortunately, the tuna fish seems too oily.
_________________________
4. We felt all of the fuzzy fabric scraps.
_________________________
Auxiliary Verbs are extra verbs (action OR linking) that help our main verb in certain tenses. Whenever you
see one of these verbs, look to see if it is connected to another verb. If so, it’s considered one verb with
auxiliary helpers.
may
might
must
be
being
been
am
are
is
was
were
do
does
did
should
could
would
have
has
had
will
can
shall
Look at this string of auxiliary verbs helping forms of a main verb, “to clean”:
Maggie is cleaning out the leftovers from the refrigerator.
Bobby might have cleaned his room last week, but it is messy again.
Alice should have been cleaning all weekend to get ready for the party.
Verb Tenses are when we take a verb and conjugate them, using the correct verb form for the subject
that is taking the verb. Verbs in their pure, not conjugated forms are called “infinitives.” The infinitive
form always take the helper word “to”: to dance
to read
to help
to open
Speakers of English use the different conjugations of every verb to indicate whether it happens in the
past, present, or future. Look at this chart for an overview of common verb tenses:
PRESENT TENSE
Present Tense – Simple:
PAST TENSE
Past Tense – Simple:
factual actions, a series
of actions, or set actions
in the present time.
factual actions, a series
of actions, or set actions
that happened in the past.
I speak.
He laughs.
I spoke.
He laughed.
Future Tense:
FUTURE TENSE
Future Tense (alternate):
aux. verb “will” to
indicate events that will
occur/will not occur for
certain in the future.
I will speak.
He will laugh.
Present Progressive:
Past Progressive:
Future Progressive:
aux. verbs “am/is/are”
(to be)
+ -ing verb ending
aux. verbs “was/were”
(to be)
+ -ing verb ending
aux. verbs “will be”
(to be)
+ -ing verb ending
I am speaking.
He is laughing.
I was speaking.
He was laughing.
I will be speaking.
He will be laughing.
Present Perfect:
Past Perfect:
Future Perfect:
aux. verbs “have/has”
(to have)
+ perfect form of verb
aux. verb “had”
(to have)
+ perfect form of verb
aux. verbs “will have”
(to have)
+ perfect form of verb
I have spoken.
He has laughed.
I had spoken.
He had laughed.
I will have spoken.
He will have laughed.
aux. verbs “am/is/are
going” + infinitive form to
show events occurring in
the future.
I am going to speak.
He is going to laugh.
Verb Forms/Persons are the different subjects that can take a verb. We have to change the form of the
verb that we use in order to indicate which person we’re speaking in (see the CAUTION! note below).
We then also alter verbs based on whether they happened for sure or not, and whether they occur in
the present, past, or future of our conversation.
The little chart below shows how we talk about the verb “person”. Please note that “person” does not
mean that the subjects of your sentences have to be human beings! They could be objects, too:
The ice cream melts very quickly.
(The subject is a singular noun, so the verb is 3rd person singular.)
The markers dry if you don’t cap them.
(The subject is a plural noun, so the verb is 3rd person plural.)
Here are all of the forms for your reference:
1ST PERSON
2ND PERSON
3RD PERSON
SINGULAR
I
You
** He/She/It
CAUTION!
PLURAL
We
You (all)
They
** Notice how, in present tense, the 3rd person singular tense takes a different
form of the verb. I walk, you walk....but Jim walks. Mr. Rogers walks.
Exercise 1.6: Write the verb person of the sentence, which includes the number AND whether or not the
person is singular or plural:
1. Even after several warnings to the campers, all of you decided to go swimming anyway? ______________
2. The smelly little dog scratched at the fleas on his body.
______________
3. Since the prom is coming up and there were no good movies, we shopped for dresses.
______________
Exercise 1.7: Rewrite each of the sentences with the new verb tense and/or forms shown in parentheses.
1. Meg holds two different jobs.
(past tense - simple)
a.
(present progressive)
b.
(change “Meg” to “Meg and Al”) c.
2. I eat lunch.
(change “I” to “The man”)
a.
(“The man” in past perfect tense) b.
(“I” in future progressive tense)
c.
3. These might have seemed silly.
(future tense - simple)
a.
(present tense – simple)
b.
(make the subject singular)
c.
Chapter 1 Review
Part One: Write a sentence for each number that contains the parts of speech listed. Then, underline
and label those parts of speech in your own sentence.
(adjective / verb)
1.
(noun / preposition)
2.
(interjection / conjunction)
3.
Part Two: Find the specified nouns in each sentence. Don’t circle a noun if it isn’t the type requested!
(proper) 4. The mayor introduced his wife to Sergeant James Avery, who had just returned from war.
(plural)
5. Charles Dickens, out of all of the men and women who wrote books, wrote my favorite novel.
(ideas)
6. If this activity teaches kids about tolerance, the bullying in the school will decrease.
Part Three: Write the pronoun on the line that best replaces the underlined noun.
7. Listen, if you don’t want those crackers, Mike will eat the crackers.
___________________
8. Kim can’t seem to find Kim’s favorite pair of earrings!
___________________
9. That’s a lesson that Ethan and Jared will have to learn for Ethan and Jared.
___________________
Part Four: Label each word in the given sentences with the correct parts of speech.
10.
Goodness, I am hoping to find my shoes and socks in the messy heap!
11. Teachers know lots of information but often forget to make lessons interesting.
Part Five: Write a sentence for each number that shows you can correctly conjugate verbs in different tenses.
12. (1st person plural/past tense – simple)
13. (2nd person singular/present progressive tense)
14. (3rd person singular/present tense – simple)
15. (3rd person plural/future tense – simple)