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Grammar Basics Part I Union Catholic High School Humanities Department PARTS OF SPEECH Nouns Pronouns Verbs Nouns A noun is defined as a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea. Examples: person = boy, Tom place = classroom, Scotch Plains thing = book, Of Mice and Men idea = friendship, justice Nouns can be categorized or labeled in several ways: common or proper concrete or abstract singular or plural collective compound Common Nouns vs. Proper Nouns A noun can be categorized or labeled as common or proper. 1. • • A common noun does not name a particular person, place, or thing. • Ex. movie A proper noun names a particular person, place, or thing • Ex. Shrek II Note: A proper noun is capitalized and may be more than one word Can you give examples of common and proper nouns? Concrete Nouns vs. Abstract Nouns A noun can be categorized or labeled as concrete or abstract 2. A concrete noun can be seen and touched. A concrete noun is tangible. • • Ex. desk, pen, sweater An abstract noun can not be seen or touched in the way that a desk can be seen and touched. An abstract noun often names an idea. • • Ex. Perseverance, freedom Singular Nouns vs. Plural Nouns A noun can also be categorized as singular or plural. 3. A singular noun names one person, place, or thing. • • Ex. girl, child A plural noun names more than one person, place, or thing. • • Ex. girls, children Collective Nouns A noun can be categorized or labeled as a collective noun. A collective noun names a group of persons or things. 4. • Ex. class, choir, pod Compound Noun A noun can be categorized or labeled as a compound noun. A compound noun is a single noun formed from two or more words. 5. • Ex. Afternoon, playground, income tax Tips For Finding Nouns Look for words that do the following: Who? Or What? 1. Look for a word that answers the question who or what, thus naming a person, place, thing or idea. Who called? John, the teacher What is that? A city, New York City -ment, -tion, -ity, -ness Look for a word that ends in –ment, -tion, ity, -ness. 2. • Ex. enjoyment satisfaction equality happiness Flag Words - “A, An, The” Words such as “a, an, the” are called articles. Use these words as “flag words.” If you see a flag word, a noun will follow. 3. Ex. a cat, an egg, the song Note: Sometimes a word that describes a noun (adjective) will be used after the article and before the noun. Be careful to choose the noun, the word that names, and not the word that describes the noun. • • Ex. a small dog – “a” is the article (flag word), “small” is the adjective (descriptive word), “dog” is the noun Pronouns A pronoun is a word that is used in place of a noun. If the English language did not have pronouns, we would have to talk like this: John asked Mary if Mary would like to go to the concert with John. Mary said Mary would have to check Mary’s calendar before saying yes or no to John. How would you re-write the above using pronouns? Pronouns John asked Mary if she would like to go to the concert with him. She said she would have to check her calendar before saying yes or no to him. Personal Pronouns vs. Indefinite Pronouns There are different kinds of pronouns, just like there are different kinds of nouns. For now, you need to know about two kinds of pronouns: personal and indefinite Personal Pronoun A personal pronoun refers to a specific person, place, thing, or idea. The noun that the pronoun replaces is called the pronoun’s antecedent. (ante=before) Ex. John = antecedent Mary = antecedent him = pronoun her = pronoun Personal Pronoun cont. How do you know what personal pronoun to use? How do you know whether to say “he” or “him”? The pronoun you choose depends upon the way the pronoun is used in the sentence. The pronoun can be used as a subject, to indicate ownership, or as an object. Pronoun as a subject If the pronoun is used as a subject of the sentence or follows a linking verb (subject complement), use “I, you, he, she, it, they” Pronoun to indicate ownership If the pronoun is used to indicate ownership, use “my, mine, your, yours, his, her, hers, its (no apostrophe), their, theirs, our, ours” Pronoun as an object If the pronoun is used as an object (in other words, neither of the above situations) use “me, you, him, her, it, us, them” For now, just make sure that you can recognize pronouns. We’ll worry about the correct use of pronouns at a later date. Indefinite Pronouns An indefinite pronoun does not refer to a particular person, place, thing, or idea. The correct use of an indefinite pronoun is very important. However, for the moment, you need only to be aware of the following indefinite pronouns: Indefinite Pronouns cont. Singular – each, either, neither, -one, -body, -thing Plural – several, few, both, many, others Singular or Plural – most, all, any, none, some (MAANS) We will return to our discussion of indefinite pronouns when we work on subject – verb agreement. Verbs There are two kinds of verbs: action or linking (also called “state of being” verbs) Action Verbs An action verb tells what a person or thing is doing. The action may be physical or mental. Ex. Run, jump, talk, think, wish, remember Linking Verb If the verb does not express an action, then it is called a linking verb because it links the subject of the sentence (the part that tells who or what the sentence is about) to a word in the predicate (the last part of the sentence). This word could be a noun (or pronoun) or an adjective (a word that describes a noun or pronoun). A linking verb acts like an = sign. Ex. The principal is Sister Percylee. The principal = Sister Percylee (noun) The principal is nice. The principal = nice (adj.) Linking Verb cont. The most common linking verbs are a form of “to be”. These “to be” verbs should be memorized: am, are, is, was, were Ex. The child is happy. Other linking verbs are words that can be used in place of a “to be” verb and yet mean the same. For example, rather than say “The child is happy” you could say: The child seems happy. The child remains happy. The child feels happy. The child looks happy. The child appears happy. Verbs* Note: A word can be used in different ways. In one sentence, a word may be an action verb and in another a linking verb. Ex. The boy tastes the donut. (action verb) The donut tastes good. (linking verb) _______________________________________________________________ Note: A person feels bad. (adj) A person does not feel badly. (adv) This is the #1 error educated people make. Do not make this mistake yourself when using standard English Verbs: Transitive vs. Intransitive An action verb may also be categorized as transitive or intransitive. When a verb is defined in the dictionary, the dictionary will indicate v.t. (verb transitive) or v.i. (verb intransitive) If the action verb is transitive, that means that there is a receiver of the action (called a direct object). Ex. Mary saw Tom. Mary – subject (doer) saw – action verb Tom – direct object (receiver of the action) Note: Both the subject and the direct object must be a noun or pronoun Verbs: Transitive vs. Intransitive cont. If the action verb is intransitive, there is no receiver of the action (no direct object following the action verb). Ex. The man listened carefully. The dog ran up the street. Verbs The main verb (MV) must be action or linking. Both action and linking verbs sometimes are preceded by helping verbs (HV) (also called auxiliary verbs). There may be 1, 2, or even 3 helping verbs preceding the main verbs. Ex. I can play. HV MV I should be playing. HV HV MV I should have been playing. HV HV HV MV Verbs cont. Note: What often causes confusion is the fact that the “to be” verbs can be linking or helping. The good news is that “am, are, is, was, were” are always verbs (either linking or helping). Ex.#1 Jean will be the president. will = HV be = MV (linking) Jean will be running for president. will = HV be = HV running = MV (linking) Verbs cont. Ex. #2 I am a swimmer am = LV I am swimming am = HV swimming = MV Note: The helping verbs always come before the main verb. The main verb is always the last verb. Nouns, Pronouns & Verbs Nouns, pronouns and verbs are the basic building blocks used to construct a sentence. This marks the end of the first Grammar Basics presentation. The second presentation will discuss sentences and sentence structure.