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Engaging Grammar: Practical Advice for Real Classrooms
Presented by Amy Benjamin
www.amybenjamin.com
Part Two: Teaching the Parts of Speech
“ I’ve never known a person
who wasn’t interested in language.”
-Steven Pinker, The Language
Instinct
Noun: Owner’s Manual
Congratulations on your wise purchase of a NOUN. Your NOUN may be
used to fit into the following frame:
The____________.
Your NOUN is used to name people, places, things, ideas, qualities, states of
mind, and all kinds of other things that need naming.
Your NOUN may be easily converted into an adjective. All you have to do is put
another NOUN after it and have it make sense. (COW pasture, for
example).
Your NOUN may be the kind of NOUN that can be made plural. Only NOUNS
may be made plural.
Your NOUN may be able to be made possessive by adding ‘s. Only NOUNS
may be made possessive. When you make your NOUN possessive, it
becomes an adjective.
You may add all kinds of modifiers before and after your NOUN. You may
replace your NOUN along with its modifiers with a pronoun.
Feel free to use your NOUN as a subject, direct object, indirect object, object
complement, object of a preposition, appositive, or predicate noun
Your noun may be called a nominal when we consider it together with its modifiers.
Adjective: Owner’s Manual
Congratulations on your wise purchase of an ADJECTIVE. Your ADJECTIVE may
be used to fit into the following frame:
The______________truck. Or The truck was very_________.
Your ADJECTIVE likes to answer the question What kind?
If your ADJECTIVE doesn’t fit into either of these frames, maybe it is the kind of
ADJECTIVE that answers the questions Which one? or How many?
Your ADJECTIVE may be capable of using the suffixes –er in the comparative form
and –est in the superlative form. (If your ADJECTIVE doesn’t like these
suffixes, just use more and most to accomplish comparison or superiority.)
Your ADJECTIVE reports to your NOUN, and your NOUN can easily become an
ADJECTIVE to another NOUN.
Often, groups of words decide to get together and do ADJECTIVE-like work. We
call such groups of words ADJECTIVALS, and they may be phrases or clauses
that operate just like ADJECTIVES, answering those questions that
ADJECTIVES answer.
Verb: Owner’s Manual
Congratulations on your wise purchase of a VERB. Your VERB may be used to fit into
the following frame:
To______________.
Your VERB is the part of the sentence that is capable of turning the sentence into a
negative. It is also the part of the sentence that changes when you add yesterday or
right now. (If your sentence does not change when you add yesterday to it, then your
sentence is in the past tense. If your sentence does not change when you add right
now to it, then it is in the present tense.)
Your VERB may be an action verb or a linking verb. Action verbs may take direct objects
and are modified by adverbs. Linking verbs take predicate nouns and predicate
adjectives. You can easily find a list of linking verbs.
Your VERB may take auxiliaries (forms of have, be) and modal auxiliaries (could, should,
would, can, will, shall, may, might, must).
Your VERB sometimes uses a form of the word do to create a sentence, to emphasize,
to negate, or to stand in for itself, as in: Do you think so? Yes, I do.
Adverb: Owner’s Manual
Congratulations on your wise purchase of an ADVERB. Your ADVERB is very
useful for answering one of the following questions:
When?
Where?
Why?
How often?
To what extent?
In what manner?
Often, groups of words decide to get together to do ADVERB-like work, and
when they do, we call these groups of words ADVERBIALS. ADVERBIALS
may be phrases or clauses that answer the questions that ADVERBS
answer..
Morphology Chart
NOUNS:
VERBS:
ADJECTIVES:
ADVERBS:
They will fit into the frame:
The_____.
They will fit into the
frame: To____
They answer one of these
questions:
They answer one of these
questions:
What kind?
How?
The________thing.
It’s easier to understand parts of speech than you think. Simply use the cues above.. Not all words
follow the same morphology. It’s interesting to see how words morph into different forms.
This “Morphology Kit”
is a great way to
expand vocabulary
because most
Noun-Making
of the words
created by
Suffixes
these suffixes
express abstract
ideas.
Morphology Kit
-ment
-ness
-ation, sion
-ity
-ism
-hood
-itude
-ence
-ance
-ide
Verb-Making Suffixes Adjective-making
suffixes
-ate
-ify
-ize
-acious,icious
-y
-ous, ious
-ant
-able, ible
-er; est
Adverb-making suffix:
-ly
5
Two Categories of Words in
English
Form Class Words:
Structure Class Words:
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Prepositions
Conjunctions
Determiners (aka
articles: a, an, the)
Intensifers
Pronouns
Interjections
Jabberwocky
‘Twas
brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe.
Prepositions
Suggested teaching methods:
1. Hidden Pictures
2. Somewhere ______ the rainbow
3. “Any place a mouse can go”
(These devices produce only those
prepositions that indicate location.
Prepositions can also indicate time (at night, after
dinner, before lunch, etc.), type (Queen of Hearts) and
relationships (with me).
Six Reasons for Teaching
Prepositions:
1. Prepositions add time and place detail to sentences
2. Students can vary their sentence structure and set the stage for
a sentence by beginning some sentences with prepositions.
3. Students can add power to their writing by ending paragraphs with a
prepositional phrase. (Conversely: Students can avoid ending sentences
with prepositions so that their sentences are not weak or too informal.)
4. Students can avoid subject-verb agreement errors by recognizing
prepositional phrases that intervene between the subject and the verb, as in
“A box of matches (is, are) on the kitchen table.”
5. Students can create parallel structure by repeating prepositional phrases
deliberately.
6. Students can select the appropriate pronoun case as the object of
a preposition. (between you and me; for Joe and me)
The Language Tree
Adjective Branches:
very___________
Noun Branches:
Verb Branches:
very___________
very___________
the______________
can___________
can___________
very___________
the______________
the______________
the______________
the______________
the______________
very___________
can___________
can___________
can___________
can___________
Prepositional Phrase Branches:
in________________
on________________
at_______________
for________________
with________________
Topic: ______________________________
Common Hitching Devices
Coordinating
Conjunctiions
Subordinating
Conjunctions
And
But
So
Or/nor
As, although, after
While, when
Until
Because, before
If
Conjunctive Adverbs
However
Moreover
Therefore
Furthermore
AAAWWUBBI
Can join two
independent
clauses to make
a compound
sentence.
Warning: You
must use a comma
with these when
they join
independent clauses.
Can hitch up to an
independent clause,
creating a subordinate
(dependent) clause,
forming
complex sentence.
Can appear after
main clause (no comma)
or before main clause
(needs a comma)
Relative Pronouns
That
Which
Who, whom
What
Where
Why
How
Whichever
Whatever, etc.
Can move within
own clause;
Requires commas
on both sides
Warning: If you
wish to use these
to join clauses, you
must use a semicolon.
Can join clauses
Warning: Many
sentence fragments
begin with these
words. Usually, you
must hitch these
words and the clauses
that they introduce to
your previous sentence.
Grammar Lessons with “Hooked on Grammar”:
Concept:
Procedure:
Students build declarative sentences. You then direct
them to do the following:
1. A sentence is a two-part
structure requiring subject-verb
agreement.
Hold the subject (Who or what is the sentence about?) in one hand;
the predicate (What about it?) in the other. Ask students to pass their
“subject” blocks to another group. When students sense that the
newly-formed sentences don’t always “go together,” you have the
opportunity to explain what we mean by subject-verb agreement.
Have students explain what they would have to do to achieve subjectverb agreement with the newly-formed sentences.
2. A sentence can be stripped down to
its subject-verb core and then built up
with modifiers.
Have students create a green-yellow “sentence core.” Add modifiiers
(adjectives, adverbs, prepositional phrases). Point out that some
modifiers precede the nouns and verbs that they modify; others follow
them. Have students experiment with the movability of modifiers and
the punctuation obligations that result from moving modifiers around in
the sentence. (See Lesson 5)
3. Parts of speech have certain
properties and forms.
Have students group the Reading Rods by color. Ask them to (use
inductive reasoning) to draw conclusions about what each class of
words has in common. Consider the endings that various word
classes can accept. Then, use the Owner’s Manuals to get a fuller
picture of the properties of nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs.
4. In English, it is common for nouns,
verbs, and adjectives to perform each
other’s functions. (functional shifting)
Have students use one part of speech (noun, verb, adjective, adverb)
as another. Name this capability as a functional shift.
5. A noun phrase may be expanded by
adding modifiers to either side of it.
The noun being expanded is called the
headword.
Have students use modifiers (adjectives, prepositional phrases) to
expand their noun phrases. This is the opportunity to teach whether or
not a comma is necessary between adjectives: If the adjectives don’t
usually go together, then we do need a comma to separate them. A
variation of this guideline is that if the adjectives can easily be
reversed, then we do need a comma. Another variation is that if “and”
can come between the adjectives, then we do need a comma.
10 Grammar Lessons with “Hooked on Grammar:
Concept:
Procedure:
6.A pronoun takes the place of a noun
and its modifiers (not just the noun).
Although it is commonly taught that a pronoun “takes the place of a
noun,” the fact is that the pronoun takes the place of the noun + its
modifiers (noun phrase). To illustrate this concept, have students try
replacing the noun only with a pronoun. They will immediately see that
the true function of a pronoun is to replace the noun + its modifiers, not
just the noun.
7. Adverbs are often movable within the
sentence.
As students experiment with how the sentence changes when the
adverbs are moved around, use the teachable moment for a lesson in
punctuation: We use a comma (or a pair of commas around the adverb
that has been moved) to signal an inversion.
8. A compound sentence is formed by
combining two independent clause with
a comma and a coordinating
conjunction.
Have students join two independent clauses with a coordinating
conjunction. This is the opportunity to teach that unless the independent
clauses of a compound sentence are very short, we use both a comma
and a coordinating conjunction to form a compound sentence.( A
semicolon may also be used to create a compound sentence.)
(Suggestion: Using purple paper, create several more blocks with
conjunctions.)
9. Clauses are either independent or
dependent. Dependent clauses are
created with subordinating conjunctions.
Have students create independent clauses (aka complete sentences)
and add subordinating conjunctions (as, after, although, while, when,
until, unless, because, before, if, since) to develop an understanding of
how complex sentences are formed and punctuated.
10. A complex sentence consists of a
dependent and independent clause,
either of which may come first in the
sentence. If the dependent clause
comes first, then a comma is required
after it.
See above.
Subjective Team
1st
Person:
I
2nd Person: you
he,
3rd Person:
she, it
who
Objective
Team
we
me
us
you
you
you
they
him,
her, it
them
whom
I
we
me
us
you
you
you
you
he,
she, it
they
who
See Joe or _____
them
him,
her, it
whom
if you have any questions.
When we confessed, he didn’t believe
Janet or_____
I
we
me
us
you
you
you
you
they
him,
her, it
them
whom
who
were invited to the White House by
President Bush.
President Bush invited
to the White House.
I
we
me
us
you
you
you
you
he,
she, it
they
him,
her, it
them
whom
who
love Lucy.
Lucy loves
Ricky and
love Lucy.
Ricky loves Lucy and
I
we
me
us
you
you
you
you
he,
she, it
they
who
Replacement System:
him,
her, it
them
whom
Anytime you could use WE…….use I, he, she, they
Anytime you could use US……use me, him, her, them
I
we
you
you
he,
she, it
they
Use subjective case for the subject of an action
verb.
who
love Lucy.
Also, use subjective case after a linking verb.
I am
.
I
we
you
you
he,
she, it
they
Also, use subjective case after a linking who
verb.
Who was it?
It was
.
Who could it have been?
It could not have been
Who does it seem to be?
It seems to be
.
Use objective case after an action verb:
We love
me
us
you
you
them
him,
her, it
whom
.
Also, use objective case as object of a preposition.
of
to
; for
; with
A Pronoun Poem
As Mom and I walked homewardly,
A puppy followed her and me.
Both she and I were quick to see
He had adopted Mom and me.
At home we showed him where to pee
And where the doggy bed would be.
Then Mom and I made lunch for three,
A feast for him and Mom and me.
from Woe is I Jr: The Younger Grammarphobe’s Guide to Better English in Plain English. by Patricia T. O’Connor and Tom Stiglich.
subject
A Pronoun Poem, Analyzed
As Mom and I walked homewardly,
A puppy followed her and me.
Both she and I were quick to see
He had adopted Mom and me.
subjects
At home we showed him where to pee
And where the doggy bed would be.
Then Mom and I made lunch for three,
A feast for him and Mom and me.
Direct Object
Object of
adopted
subject
Objects of
The preposition
for
Action verbs are modified by adverbs.
bouncy
shy
friendly
shyly
vivaciously
protectiveprotectively
Pepper is… recklessly
hungry
silly
Pepper behaves…
cautiously
jovially
Pepper looks..
Pepper seems…
Pepper became…
playfully playful
adventurously
curiously
Linking verbs are completed
by adjectives.
adventurous
curious
Linking verbs
tell the nature of
things.
Linking verbs: BE, + sense verbs: look, sound, smell, feel; seem verbs: seem appear,
become, grow
Sentence Patterns
S-V*
S-V-O*
S-V-SC
Rocks explode.
Lizards like rocks.
Rocks are expensive.
A diamond is a rock.
*SV: Subject-Verb: This pattern uses an intransitive verb. Intransitive verbs take
no direct object.
*S-V-O: Subject-Verb-Object: This pattern uses a transitive verb. Transitive verbs
take direct objects. (Direct objects answer Who? Or What? They are used with
action verbs only.
*S-V-SC: Subject-Verb-Subject Complement: This pattern uses a linking verb.
Linking verbs take subject complements, which can be either nouns (and when
pronouns, are in the subjective case) or adjectives.