Download grammar1 - La Habra High School

Level 1: The Parts of Speech
1. Noun
5. Adverb
2. Pronoun
3. Adjective
4. Verb
6. Conjunction
7. Preposition
8. Interjection
Nouns
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Nouns are the names of a person, place, thing, or idea.
Proper nouns: formal names - they are capitalized (Bob)
Common nouns: other nouns - not capitalized (mutt)
Concrete nouns: names of objects in the world (rock)
Abstract nouns: names of ideas (freedom)
Nouns
 Noun of direct address: name of someone addressed in a
sentence (Bob, I’m here.)
 Collective noun: names a group (flock)
 singular nouns: describe individual examples (boat, flock)
 plural nouns: describe multiple examples (boats, flocks)
Pronoun
A pronoun is a word that we use instead
of repeating an antecedent noun.
 Pronouns help avoid unnecessary repetition.
For example, rather than say
Bob went to New York where Bob went to the opera.
we substitute the second Bob with a pronoun:
Bob went to New York where he went to the opera.
Pronoun
 Effect: By avoiding repetition of lengthy or compound nouns,
pronouns lend grace, elegance, and high speed to sentences.
 Gender: Pronouns can be masculine gender (he, his, him),
feminine gender (she, hers, hers), or neuter gender (it).
Pronoun
Singular
1st Person
2nd Person
3rd Person
I
you
he, she, it
Plural
we
you
they
antecedent: The noun that the pronoun replaces.
There isn’t always an antecedent! --> Indefinite
pronouns
Pronoun
 Pronoun non-specificity:
Pronouns are designed not to be specific. He can refer to
anyone in the world of the male gender. So, non-specificity
causes problems.
Therefore pronoun usage is an art, and as the writer you must
keep pronoun reference in mind at all times.
Pronoun
 Subject Pronouns (nominative case):
The subject pronouns are: I, you, he, she, and, it.
 They are used as subjects of clauses and as subject
complements.

Example: It was I.
She and I went to the beanery with him and her.
Pronoun
Object Pronouns (objective case):
The object pronouns are: me, you, him, her, it,
us, them, and they. They are used as objects:
direct objects, indirect objects, or objects of
prepositions.
1st Person
2nd Person
3rd Person
Singular
me
you
him, her, it
Plural
us
you
them
Pronoun rule: A subject is a subject and an object is an
object.
Examples: It was he, but they saw him.
The accolade was for him and me.
Pronoun
 Possessive Pronouns: a possessive pronoun is a pronoun
which shows possession and which is used as both a pronoun
and as an adjective in order to indicate ownership or
possession.
 Possessive pronouns: my, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs
Examples: Mortimer lost his pesos.
The dog found its doghouse.
 its or it’s? The word its is a possessive pronoun. The word it’s
is a conjunction of it is.
Pronoun
 Interrogative pronouns: a pronoun used to interrogate - it
asks a question.
who, whose, whom, which, what.
 Demonstrative pronouns: a pronoun used to demonstrate - it
points to something.
this, that, these, those
Pronoun
 Effect: Demonstrative pronouns as subjects: Generally, you
should not use demonstrative pronouns as subjects very often
because they have a tendency to get vague or ambiguous.
Example: “This theory of gravitation influenced people” is
better than “This influenced people.”
Pronoun
 Relative Pronouns: a pronoun which relates an adjective
clause to a main clause. Relative pronouns often begin short
adjective clauses which interrupt main clauses.
Example: The man who followed you turned left.
 Reflexive Pronoun: a reflexive pronoun is a -self or -selves
pronoun that reflects back to a word used previously in the
sentence.
Example: I found myself awash on a strange beach.
Pronoun
 Intensive Pronoun: an intensive pronoun is a -self or -selves
pronoun which is used to intensify the emphasis on a noun or
another pronoun.
Example: I myself agree with that idea.
Pronoun Problems
 Pronoun/Antecedent Agreement in Number:
A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in number. If the
noun is singular, the pronoun must be singular.
Remember: -one and -body pronouns are singular, even though
they may not seem to be.

Singular pronouns: someone, somebody, everyone, everybody,
anyone, anybody, each, every

Example: Someone lost his pliers. (Not theirs.)
Pronoun Problems
 his, or her, or his or her?
Traditional: the assumed male solution.
Example: Someone dropped his muffler.
 One solution: the compound gender solution.
Example: Someone dropped his or her muffler.
 Or: the “article escape.”
Example: Someone dropped a muffler.
Pronoun Problems
 Pronoun reference problems:
Here, the antecedent of the pronoun is unclear.
Example: Herbert and Ed went to the beach, where he broke
his foot. (Who broke whose foot?)
Pronoun Problems
 Common pronoun reference errors:
Missing antecedent: there is no previous noun to which the
pronoun could possibly refer.
Example: beginning of the first paragraph of a term paper
with “He was born in 1895.” He who?
Pronoun Problems
 Ambiguous reference: in this case there are two or more
possible nouns to which the pronoun might refer.
Example: “Dickens hastened to meet his editor, but he was
late.” (Who was late - Dickens or his editor?)
 Vague reference: The reader cannot figure out whether the
pronoun’s reference is present or not.
Example: “Ralph leaned against the tree; it got cold.”
Pronoun Problems
 Ghost demonstration error: a demonstrative pronoun is used
as a subject of a clause, assuming incorrectly that the reader
is sure of what this refers to.
Example: “This soon resulted in...” This what?
Adjective
An adjective is a word that modifies a noun or pronoun.
Example: the red car
 An adjective can be used as a subject complement:
Example: The swim was good.
 Effect: Why not simply use only nouns?
 Adjectives qualify nouns and allow us to express subtle
differences between very similar things.
Adjective
Three degrees of adjectives:
 Positive: good
 Comparative: better
 Superlative: best
Effect: Adjectives modify (change) nouns. Consider
the difference between:
a racing car a junk car
Adjective
Parallel Construction in lists and compounds.
 Parallel construction means using uniform parts of speech for
items in lists and compounds. Keeping lists and compounds
grammatically parallel is a good writing technique.
 Parallel Compound: John was adjective and adjective.
John was tall and handsome.
rather than: John was tall and an athlete.
Adjective
Parallel List: I want noun, noun, and noun.
I want shelter, clothes, and food.
rather than
I want shelter, clothes, and to eat.
Adjective
Articles:
Articles are a kind of adjective.
 Definite article: the
 Indefinite articles: a, an