Grammar focus 1

1. Grammar focus 1 Parts of Speech & Parts of a Sentence- Review

2. Introduction – Parts of Speech • Words in the English language are used in eight (or nine) different ways. • For this reason there are eight (or nine) parts of speech

3. Nouns Definition – word that names a person, place, thing, or idea. • Proper Noun – name specific people, places, things, or ideas. Ex: New York City, Zeke, Hurricane Ivan • Common Noun – any noun that is not a proper noun. Ex: school, car, dog Types of Nouns – • Concrete – names things that can be seen, heard, or touched. Ex: water, mountain, air, money • Abstract – names something that you can think about but cannot see. Ex: joy, hope, August, kindness • Collective – names a collection of person, animals, or things Ex: group, class, clan, flock, tribe

4. Pronouns • Definition – Used in place of a noun. • Antecedent – The noun to which the pronoun refers to is called the antecedent. • Pronouns must match their antecedent in “person,” “gender,” and “number” • Includes: I, me, you, he, him, she, her, it , we, us, they, them • WATCH OUT! Check for agreement with compound subjects and objects Example: Andre and Jerry got out their snowboards. Example: The attendant would allow neither Andre nor Jerry to ride the lift without his ticket.

5. Types of Pronouns • Personal Pronoun • Defn: Pronouns that refer to: • 1) the person speaking or writing, • 2) the person listening or reading, or • 3) the topic (person, place, or thing) being discussed or written about • Examples: I, me, my, mine, you, your, yours, he, him, she, her, it, its, we, us, our, ours, they, them, their, theirs • Demonstrative Pronouns • Defn: A pronoun that points out a person, place, or thing. DEMONSTRATES the person, place, or thing • Examples: This, that, these, those

6. Adjectives • Definition – Words that describe or modify nouns or pronouns. • Help readers see, feel, hear, smell, and taste what writers are describing • Adjectives answer four questions: • What Kind? • How Much? • How Many? • Which One? • Ex: Spanish moss, six horses, that desk, last test, some rain, green apples, few computers.

7. Articles: • Technically articles fall into the category of adjectives, but many consider them a separate category. (Hence the 9th part of speech) • Simply the words: • A • An • The • Definite Article = “The” – points to a specific person, place, or thing. • Indefinite Article = “A” and “An” – point to any member of a group of similar people, places, or things.

8. Verbs • Definition – Shows action or links the subject to another word in the sentence. • Action Verb – Shows what the subject is doing • Linking Verb – Connects a subject to a noun or an adjective in the predicate. • Common linking verbs: be, is, are, was, were, am, been, being, appear, become, feel, grow, look, remain, seem, smell, sound, taste. • Ex: A hurricane is a tropical cyclone. • Helping Verb: Completes the main verb. • Ex: The hurricane will result in some damage. • Irregular Verb: the endings do not follow the –ed rule. Verb probably changes. Ex: Write – wrote, Swim - Swam

9. Adverbs • Definition – Describes or modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. • Adverbs can answer 5 questions: • How? • When? • How often? • Where? • How much? • Examples Sentences: • Dad drove carefully through the fog. We hope it clears up later. The fog seems to be everywhere. It completely blocks the view of my yard.

10. Comparatives & Superlatives as Adverbs • The comparative will modify verbs that compare the actions of two items. • earlier, farther • The superlative will modify verbs that compare the actions of three or more items. • earliest, farthest

11. Examples • Frank will arrive early in the morning. (positive or basic form) • Josh arrived earlier in the morning. (comparative) • Samuel arrived the earliest in the morning. (superlative) • Sally works hard. • Steve works harder than Sally • Kathy and Sue work the hardest of all.

12. Preposition • Word, or group of words, that show the relationship between an object (the noun or pronoun that follows the preposition) and another word in the sentence. • About, before, behind, down, at, because of, for of, over, on top of, toward, under, within, without, since, across, according to, amid, despite, between, etc.

13. Conjunctions • Definition – Connects individual words or groups of words. • Three types: • Coordinating conjunctions – connects words to words, a phrase to a phrase, or a clause to a clause • And, but, or, nor, for, yet, so (FANBOYS) • Correlative: conjunctions used in pairs • Not only, but also; neither, nor; either, or; both, and; weather, or • Subordinating: both connect and show relationship between two clauses that are NOT equally important. • After, although, as, before, because, since, so that, till, etc.

14. Interjections • Definition – communicates strong emotion or surprise. • Punctuation, often a comma or exclamation point, is used to set off an interjection from the rest of the sentence. • Oh no! I forgot my homework • Good grief! I am tired of his complaining. • Yikes, I’ll go mad if the cat keeps howling.

15. Parts of a Sentence • The following are not parts of speech, but are parts of a sentence. These are used in grammar to refer to very specific parts of every sentence • Every sentence has two parts • Subject • Predicate

16. Subject(s) • The subject of a sentence is who (person) or what (thing) the sentence is about • Answers the questions: What is this sentence about? Who is this sentence about? • It is a noun • There may be other nouns in the sentence, but these may not be the subject. • Ex. Zeke ran through the house to grab the tennis ball that was bouncing.

17. Compound Subjects • A compound subject contains two or more subjects usually joined by “and” or “or”. • Still answers: who or what is this sentence about? • Ex. Mark Twain and Harper Lee are American authors.

18. Predicate • A predicate tells what the subject does. • Answers the questions: • What is the person doing? • What is the thing doing? • It is a verb. • There may be other verbs in the sentence. • Ex. Zeke ran through the house to catch the ball that was bouncing.

19. Compound Predicates • A compound predicate has two or more predicates usually joined by “and”, “or”, or “but” • Still answers the question: what is the subject doing? • Ex. They wrote great novels and became famous.