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Knox Community College (May Pen Campus) Use of English I Parts of Speech Nouns, Pronouns, Verbs, Adjectives, Adverbs, Prepositions, Conjunctions, Interjections ______________________________________________________________________________ Nouns A noun is a word that names a person, place, thing or an idea. A concrete noun names an object that occupies space or can be recognized by any of the senses. E.g., salt, whisper, thunder, sand, scent. An abstract noun names an idea, a quality, or a characteristic. E.g. Confusion, grief, patience, clarity, friendship. The possessive form of a noun can show possession, ownership, or the general relationship between two nouns. To form the possessive of a singular noun, even one that ends with s, add an apostrophe and an s. Examples: Susie’s calculator. Morris’s chair. To form the possessive of a plural noun that ends in s, add just an apostrophe. Examples: The Wilsons’ newspaper. The boys’ headaches. To form the possessive of a plural noun that doesn’t end in s, add an apostrophe and an s. Examples: The women’s meetings. The sheep’s noses. Compound nouns are nouns made up of two or more hyphenated words. Compound nouns maybe open, hyphenated, or closed. Examples: OPEN- music box, press secretary, public defender Examples: HYPHENATED- great-grandfather, good-bye, sister-in-law Examples: CLOSED- bedroom, headache, mailbox Collective nouns are singular in form but name a group. Examples: family, troop, class, jury, crew, flock, band, swarm, committee, audience. A collective noun is sometimes considered singular and sometimes considered plural. If you are talking about the group as a whole acting together, consider the collective noun singular. If you are talking about the individual members of a group, consider the collective noun plural. Example: SINGULAR- The band travels in an old bus. 1 Example: PLURAL- The band are going to assemble here at noon. Let’s Practice! Identify each collective noun. Label it S if it’s singular and P if it’s plural. 1. The committee is concluding its report. 2. The jury sit to the left of the judge. 3. During periods of heavy rain, the traffic police wear their rain gear. 4. The orchestra is opening the concert with an overture. 5. The herd grazes on government grassland. 6. The audience show their appreciation with applause. A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun, a group of words acting as a noun, or another pronoun. The group of words to which a pronoun refers is called its antecedent. Example: When N. Scott Momaday wrote The Way to Rainy Mountain, he was retelling Kiowa Legends. (The pronoun he takes the place of the noun N. Scott Momaday.) Example: Langston Hughes and Arna Bontemps were major figures of the Harlem Renaissance. Both edited The Book of Negro Folklore. (The pronoun both takes the place of the nouns Langston Hughes and Arna Bontemps.) There are about seventy-five pronouns in English. Each pronoun belongs in one or more of these categories: personal and possessive pronouns, reflexive and intensive pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, interrogative pronouns, relative pronouns and indefinite pronouns. Personal and Possessive Pronouns A personal pronoun refers to a specific person, place, thing or idea by indicating the person speaking (the first person), the person or people being spoken to (the second person), or any other person, place, thing, or idea being talked about (the third person). Personal pronouns express number- that is, they are either singular or plural. PERSONAL PRONOUNS Singular Plural First Person I, me we, us Second Person you you Third Person he, him, she, her, it they, them 2 Example: FIRST PERSON- We will keep the pup with us. (We and us refer to the people speaking). Example: SECOND PERSON- You may use the spell-checking program. (You refers to the people or person being addressed. Example: THIRD PERSON- They accomplished all the tasks assigned to them. (They and them refer to persons being discussed.) POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS Singular Plural First Person my, mine our, ours Second Person your, yours your, yours Third person his, her, hers, its their, theirs Some of the pronouns in the chart above are paired. In the pairs, the first form can be used before a noun. The second form in each pair can stand alone as a noun does. His and its can be used in both ways. Example: USED BEFORE A NOUN - Is that her journal? Example: USED ALONE- That journal is hers. Notice that possessive pronouns do not contain apostrophes. Take particular note that the possessive pronoun ‘its’ has no apostrophe. It is a common error to mistake its and the contraction it’s. Example: The cat was eating its food. (possessive pronoun) Example: It’s my mother’s cat. (contraction for it is) 3 Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns To form the reflexive and intensive pronouns, add- self or –selves to certain personal and possessive pronouns. REFLEXIVE AND INTENSIVE PRONOUNS Singular Plural First Person myself ourselves Second Person yourself yourselves Third Person himself, herself, itself themselves A reflexive pronoun refers back to the subject of the sentence or clause and indicates that the same person or thing is involved. A reflexive pronoun adds information to a sentence. Example: We considered ourselves lucky to have avoided the tornado. Example: In stage makeup, I don’t even look like myself. An intensive pronoun adds emphasis to another noun or pronoun. It does not add information to a sentence. If the intensive pronoun is omitted, the meaning of the sentence will still be the same. Example: You yourself decided not to rename the file. An intensive pronoun is often placed directly after its antecedent. However, a reflexive pronoun may appear anywhere in a sentence. Example: I myself balanced the chequebook. (Intensive) Example: I balanced the chequebook myself. (Reflexive) Demonstrative Pronouns point out specific persons, places, things or ideas. For example this, that, these, those. Example: This is your new toothbrush. Example: Let me do that for you. Example: Are these the cookies you liked so well? Example: I think I’ll take those. Interrogative and Relative Pronouns An interrogative pronoun is used to form questions. For example who, whom, whose, whoever, whomever, whatever, which, whichever, what. 4 A relative pronoun is used to begin a special subject verb word group called a subordinate clause. For example who, whoever, which, that, whom, whomever, whose, what, whichever, whatever. Example: Rhonda held out paper cups of water to the marathon runners, who grabbed them eagerly. (The relative pronoun who begins the subordinate clause who grabbed them eagerly.) Example: The novel that she wrote is on the best- seller list. (The relative pronoun that begins the subordinate clause that she wrote.) An indefinite pronoun refers to a person, a place, a thing, or an idea in a more general way than a noun does. Example: Do you know anyone in your class? (The indefinite pronoun anyone does not refer to a specific person.) Example: Several have submitted applications for college. (The indefinite pronoun several does not refer to a specific group of people.) Example: The group responsible for posters reported that none were ready. (The indefinite pronoun none has the specific antecedent posters.) (Examples of indefinite pronouns: all, another any, anybody, anyone, anything, both, each, either, enough, everybody, everyone, everything, few, many, most, much, neither, nobody, none, no one, nothing, one, other, others, several, some, somebody, someone, something. ) 5 Verbs A verb is a word that expresses an action or a state of being and is necessary to make a statement. Examples: The author summarized his story. The artist cleaned her brushes. The actor winked at the audience. The banner appears dusty. Verbs express time- present, past, and future- by means of various tense forms. Example: PRESENT TENSE- I smell the roses. PAST TENSE- I smelled the roses. FUTURE TENSE- I will smell the roses. Action Verbs An action verb tells what someone or something does. Action verbs can express action that is either physical or mental. Example: PHYSICAL ACTION- The choir sang the new song. MENTAL ACTION- The choir liked the new song. A transitive verb is followed by a word or words that answer the question what or whom. The word or words that answer the question what or whom after a transitive verb are called the direct object. Transitive verbs require a direct object to complete their meaning. Example: She spoke the words of the challenge. [The verb spoke is followed by the noun words, which answers the question spoke what?] An intransitive verb is not followed by a word that answers the question what or whom. Example: She spoke clearly. [The verb is followed by a word that tells how.] LET’S PRACTICE! i Identify each verb by underlining it, then write T for transitive and I for intransitive. Example: Luis takes criticism very well. (T) 1. Butterflies and hummingbirds prefer certain plants. 2. Sam worked diligently on his term paper. 3. A person gains respect more by actions than by words. 6 4. Everyone doubts him or herself from time to time. 5. The sun sets early in the winter. 6. The water table rises after a drenching rain. 7. We finally settled on a price for the computer. 8. Sherry speaks four languages fluently. Linking Verbs link or join the subject of a sentence (often a noun or a pronoun) with a noun, a pronoun or an adjective that identifies or describes the subject. A linking verb does not show action. Be in all its forms is the most commonly used linking verb. Forms of be include am, is, are, was, were, will be, has been, and was being. Examples: That tailor is an expert. This spring has been rainy. These rosebushes are rare. Tomorrow will be a sunny day. Other Verbs That Can Be Linking Verbs Look Remain Seem Become Stay Grow Appear Sound Taste Smell Feel turn 7 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 or helping verbs. FORMS OF AUXILIARY VERBS Be Am, is, are, was, were, being, been Have Has, have, had, having Other Auxiliaries Can,could may, might must Do, does, did shall, should will, would The most common auxiliary verbs are forms of be and have. They help the main verb express time by forming the various tenses. Example: We had expected the letter for days. The other auxiliary verbs are not used primarily to express time. They are often used to emphasize meaning. Example: You should exercise daily. i Transitive and Intransitive –Answers 1. Prefer: transitive, plants 2. Worked: IT 3. Gains: T, respect 4. doubts: T, himself, herself 5. sets: IT 6. rises: IT 7. settled: IT 8. speaks: T, languages 8