Grammar Basics (Adverbs, conjunctions, contractions)

1. Grammar Basics (Adverbs, conjunctions, contractions) Resource: Advanced English Grammar for ESL Learners C/LtColGenieve M. Martínez

2. Lesson Objectives • Review grammar basics: • Parts of Speech • Noun • Pronoun • Verb • Adjective • Adverb • Contractions • Preposition • Conjunction • Test Knowledge

3. Parts of Speech • NOUN a person, place, or thing. Can be the subject or object of a sentence. • PRONOUNa word that replaces or stands for ("pro" = for) a noun. • VERB an action word. • ADJECTIVE a word that describes or modifies a noun. Answers the questions "how many," "what kind," etc. • ADVERB a word that describes or modifies a verb. • PREPOSITION (literally "pre-position") a word that indicates the relationship of a noun (or noun phrase) to another word.

4. Adverbs An adverb modifies verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. They are formed most often by adding the suffix-ly to an adjective: Slow-slowly Clear-clearly Smooth-smoothly Adjectives that end in –ic form adverbs by the suffix –ically: historic-historically basic-basically romantic-romantically

5. Adverbs If an adjective ends in a consonant followed by –y, the suffix becomes –ily. If the adjective ends in a vowel followed by –y, the ending remains just –ly: Happy-happily Coy-coyly Merry-merrily In a few cases, words that end in –ly are used both as adjectives and adverbs: Early yearly daily

6. Adverbs • Like adjectives, adverbs occur in types: • Time • Frequency • Manner • Degree • Comment

7. Adverb types Adverbs of time tell when something is occurring: We’ll join you in London next week. I hope to arrive home soon. The train pulled into the station a little past midnight. Adverbs of frequency tell how often something occurs: Bob usually gets up before 7 A.M. I drive to Milwaukee several times a week. Mary sometimes takes the subway to work.

8. Adverb types Adverbs of manner describe how something is done: The chauffeur quickly pulled the car to the curb. Little Sally pronounced each word in the sentence carefully. John lazily dragged himself from the bed to the bathroom. Adverbs of degree describe how much, how little, or with what intensity something is done. (adequately, almost, entirely, extremely, greatly, highly, immensely, moderately, partially, perfectly, practically, totally, tremendously, and very. Mr. Brown was an immensely popular teacher. The sound of her voice was perfectly lovely. The elderly man spoke very slowly.

9. Adverb types Adverbs of comment provide an opinion or commentary about something. They occur primarily at the beginning of a sentence and are set off by a comma: Luckily, I had an umbrella along and stayed dry during the storm. Unfortunately, the concert had to be cancelled. With much happiness, I wish to announce the birth of my first daughter.

10. General rules for adverb placement • Adverbs of time are placed after the verb or at the end of the sentence. • She invited us last week. • Adverbs of frequency are placed before the main verb but after an auxiliary. • He seldom comes home late. She has often helped me in the garden. • Adverbs of manner are placed after the verb or at the end of the sentence. • The lecturer speaks quickly. • Adverbs of degree are placed after the verb or at the end of the sentence but precede the word they modify. • His statement was totally false. • Adverbs of comment are placed at the beginning of the sentence. • Fortunately, John got a raise the day he bought his new car.

11. Conjunctions Conjunctions are words that connect individual words, groups or words, or entire clauses. Coordinating conjunctions: The team was playing well, and a large crowd was gathering at the soccer field. Tome made a chili that was spicy and too tangy for Aunt Mary. Our retriever loves swimming in the lake, but he hates getting a bath. The cat likes to sleep under the table but always keeps her tail tucked under. I’m very careful with my laptop, for it’s much too expensive to replace.

12. Conjunctions Correlative conjunctions: Are pairs of words that function together as a conjunction. These conjunctions combine equal or parallel elements of a sentence: a verb with a verb, a noun with a noun, a phrase with a phrase and so on. That woman is as tough with the men as she is gentle with the children. I want both a new car and a new boat. You are not only lying to me but also laughing at me. Neither his good deeds nor his acts of kindness were remembered after his death. Either you help with the dishes or you get no allowance this week. She doesn’t know whether to kiss him or to slap his face.

13. Conjunctions Conjunctive adverbs: When adverbs combine two independent clauses, they are then conjunctive adverbs. The car is old and needs repairs; nevertheless, I will buy it for the parts. That fellow got a large inheritance; hence, he spends money like a playboy.

14. Conjunctions Subordinating conjunctions: Wherever the boy tried to hide, his dog would always find him.

15. Contractions A contraction is a word composed of two words, one of which uses an apostrophe in place of an omitted letter or letters.

16. Upcoming Topics • Subject-verb agreement • Verbs • Past • Present • Future