Unit I: Grammar

Parts of SpeechBasic Sentence Parts and

PatternsPhrases and Clauses

Avoiding Sentence Errors

Parts of Speech Nouns Pronouns Verbs Adjectives Adverbs Prepositions Conjunctions Interjections!

Nouns Names a person, place, or thing PERSON: woman, cousin, pilot, Mr.

Lopez, Aunt Margaret PLACE: university, Main Street,

desert, Chesapeake Bay, Ohio

Concrete and Abstract Nouns CONCRETE: Something you can see, touch,

taste, hear, or smell pitchfork garlic critic bruise ________________ ________________ ________________

ABSTRACT: Some-thing nonphysical, that you cannot perceive through your 5 senses

patriotism era career immortality ___________________ ___________________ ___________________

Singular and Plural NounsSingular Regular

NounsIrregular

Plural Regular

Nouns Irregular

Collective Nouns

valley mouse valleys mice council

ash ox ashes oxen delegation

sky nucleus skies nuclei entourage

Common and Proper Nouns playwright island building ________________ ________________ ________________

William Shakespeare

Maui, Sicily Taj Mahal, Eiffel

Tower _________________

_ _________________

_ _________________

_

PARTS OF SPEECH

Pronouns Take the place of nouns

Jan and Ken went to the dance. They thought it was great.

Antecedents-nouns the pronouns are representing Graduating high school is something

all seniors want to do. It is only accomplished by some.

Personal PronounsSINGULAR PLURAL

First Person I, me, my, mine

we, us, our, ours

Second Person

you, your, yours

you, your, yours

Third Person he, she, it, him, her, his, her, hers, its

they, them, their, theirs

Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns REFLEXIVE: Adds essential

information to a sentence. Cats clean themselves carefully after

each meal. INTENSIVE: Usually can be

removed. You yourself agreed that the house

needs painting.

Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns

SINGULAR PLURAL

First Person myself ourselves

Second Person

yourself yourselves

Third Person himself, herself, itself

themselves

Other Pronouns Demonstrative—Located before or

after antecedents: this, that, these, those That is an ambulance siren.

Relative—Relates the pronoun to another idea: which, who, whom, whose We began reading Anthem, which is by Ayn

Rand. Interrogative—Begins a question:

what, which, who, whom, whose What fell from that ledge?

Other Pronouns

Demonstrative This, that, these, those,

Relative Which, who, whom, whose

Interrogative Which, who, whom, whose

Indefinate Pronouns

Refers to persons, places, or things in a more general way than a noun does.

I.e. Everyone has to go to the football game this Friday.

Indefinite PronounsSingular Plural Singular or

Pluralanother, anybody, anyone, anything, each, either, everybody, everyone, everything, little, much, neither, nobody, no one, nothing, one, other, somebody, someone, something

bothfewmanyothersseveral

allanymoremostnonesomesuch

PARTS OF SPEECH

Verbs Word or group of words that shows

action The dog raced across the field. Students will smile for their pictures

today. A sentence is not complete without a

verb.

Action Verbs Linking Verbs

Tell what action something is performing: The dancer will

attempt a daring leap.

The kettle whistled incessantly.

I considered my decision carefully.

Connects a subject to a word that describes the subject, usually at the end of the sentence. Jennifer was a

senior. The man looks

busy. ACTION: The man

looked for a taxi. She appeared

unkind. ACTION: He

appeared on stage at the concert.

The forms of BEam can be has beenare could be had beenis may be could have beenwas might be may have beenWere must be might have beenbe shall be shall have beenbeing should be should have beenare being will be will have beenis being would be would have beenwas being have been

Other linking verbsappear look soundbecome remain stayfeel seem tastegrow smell turn

Transitive Verbs Transitive verbs direct action

toward someone or something Sentences include a direct object

He wrote a novel. (Wrote what? A novel)

She paid the bill. (Paid what? The bill)

The doctor examined the patient. (Examined what/who? The patient)

Dogs ate all the meat. (Ate what? Meat)

Intransitive verbs Does not direct action to something

or someone named in the sentence. The birds flew south. (Flew what? None.) She sings for the Metropolitan Opera.

(Sings what? None.) They cringed in fear. (Cringed what?

None.)

Verb Phrases Verb with one, two, or three

helping verbs before it. SINGLE VERB: The firm employed a

new secretary. The firm will employ a new secretary. The firm should have employed a new

secretary. A new secretary might have been

employed by the firm today.

Adjectives Word used to describe nouns or

pronouns. Answer the questions:

What kind? He saw green fields. Which one? Open the left window. How many? She ate six lobsters.

Adverbs Word that describes a verb,

adjective, or another adverb They answer:

Where? The jurors sat there. When? She never cleaned the room. How? He officially announced it. To what extent? He always did it

right.

Adverbs describing adjectives

The solution was quite logical. How logical? quite

It was an extremely sour lemon. How sour? extremely

She was very late. How late? very

Adverbs describing adverbs

He worked very competently. How competently? very

I am not completely finished. How completely? not

The athlete ran quite quickly. How quickly? quite

Prepositions Relate the noun to another word in

the sentence LOCATION: The brush fire burned atop

the hill. DIRECTION: The brush fire burned

toward the campsite. TIME: The brush fire burned for three

days. CAUSE: The brush fire started because

of carelessness. POSSESSION: Smoke from the fire could

be seen for miles.

Common Prepositionsaboardaboutaboveacrossafter

against along

amongaround

atbefore

behindbelow

beneathbeside

betweenbeyond

bydown during except

for

fromin

intolikeofoffon

overpastsince

through

throughoutto

towardunder

underneathuntilup

uponwith

withinwithout

Prepositional PhraseA group of words that includes a

preposition and the object I walked slightly ahead of her. The shampoo bottle on the shelf was

almost empty. We fell in love with a lovable, brown-

eyed puppy. Our new house is located near stores

and schools.

Prepositional Phrases in Questions What were we talking about?

The phrase is broken up: about what. Where did this come from?

The phrase is broken up: from where.

Find the Phrases HINT: Find the preposition; then

find the object. As of today, he had become a

teenager. They drove down to the cabin on

the lake this weekend. Eat green beans instead of French

fries for a healthy diet. No one is supposed to drive by the

abandoned building.

Conjunctions Word used to connect other words

or groups of words. Three main types:

Coordinating Correlative Subordinating

Coordinating Conjunctions Connect similar parts of speech or items

of equal weight:and but for nor or so

yet With nouns and pronouns:

Inga and I attended the concert. With verbs:

She will run or jump at the track meet. With adverbs:

The man responded quickly but incorrectly.

Coordinating Conjunctions cont’d With adjectives:

The steak was tender, large, yet tasteless.

With prepositional phrases: I will go to Greece or to Spain.

With complete ideas: He seemed distressed, so we

discussed his problem.

Correlative Conjunctions Must work in pairs to correlate

ideasboth…andeither…orneither…nornot only…but alsowhether…or

Correlative Conjunctions cont’d With nouns and pronouns:

Call either Ed or me if you need help. With adjectives:

The rain was not only heavy but also cold. With prepositional phrases:

Put the check neither in the drawer nor beside the telephone.

With complete ideas: Whether they run or walk, they will arrive

eventually.

Subordinating Conjunctions

after becausealthough beforeas

even ifas if even

thoughas long as howas much as ifas soon as in order

thatas though lest

now that unlessprovided untilsince whenso that wheneverthan wherethat whereverthough whiletill

Two complete ideas by making one of the ideas subordinate or dependent upon the other.

Examples of Subordinating Conjunctions The referees watched carefully lest

they miss a key play. The termites remained, although

the fumigator sprayed. After the billboards were removed,

the area’s natural beauty was restored.

Conjunctive Adverbs

accordinglyagainalsobesidesconsequentlyfinallyfurthermorehowever

indeedmoreoverneverthelessotherwisethenthereforethus

Act as transitions between complete ideas by indicating comparisons, contrasts, and results.

Conjunctive Adverbs Examples The doctor did help my back

problem; however, I still experience occasional pain.

The earthquake damaged the wall. Moreover, it broke some water pipes.

My hay fever grew worse. I, nevertheless, refused to remain inside.

Interjections! An interjection is a word that

expresses feeling or emotion and functions independently of a sentence.

ah gracious psstaha hey tskalas hurray welldear oh whewgoodness ouch

wow

Interjection Examples Ouch! That bee sting hurts! Goodness, if you don’t leave now,

you will be late! ___________! What was that noise? ___________! Come over here! ___________! I’m exhausted.