Grammar Parts of Speech

Nouns  A noun is the part of speech that names a person, place, thing or idea.  person – girl, man, James  place – school, forest, London  thing – salt, cat, Revolutionary War  idea – freedom, love, beauty

Nouns Common vs. Proper  A common noun is a general name for a person, place or thing.  A proper noun names a specific person, place or thing.  Proper nouns are capitalized. Beyonce Chicago

Nouns Singular vs. Plural  Singular nouns name one object.  Plural nouns name more than one object. dog house foot mouse hero dogs houses feet mice heroes

Pronouns  Pronouns are words that take the place of nouns.  They help us avoid the awkward repetition of nouns. I, we, me, him, her, his, it, you, they, us… Weird : Michael lost Michael’s watch at the gym. Not weird : Michael lost his watch at the gym.  The noun that the pronoun replaces is known as its antecedent.

Pronouns  Pronouns refer to  The person speaking (FIRST PERSON)  I, me  The person spoken to (SECOND PERSON)  You  The person, place or thing being spoken about (THIRD PERSON)  He, she, it

Pronoun Cases  Subjective – the doer (subject) of the action  I throw the ball.  Objective – the receiver (object) of the action  Throw the ball to me.  Possessive – shows ownership  My throw to third base won the game.

Pronouns Singular vs. Plural

Verbs  A verb is a word that shows an action, condition, or the fact that something exists.  An action verb tells what action someone or something is performing.  Mia learned about winter sports.  The dog runs across the road.  A linking verb connects its subject with a noun, pronoun or adjective that identifies or describes the subject.  The man is a famous hockey player.  She seems like a nice girl.

Verb Tense  Verb tenses let us know when the action happens.  Present Tense: I walk around my neighborhood.  Past Tense: I walked around the block.  Future Tense: I will walk to school tomorrow.

Verb Tense in Sentences  When writing, you need to stay in the SAME verb tense.  Incorrect : I got home late and Mom yells at me for not calling to let her know where I will be. I got home = past tense Mom yells = present tense where I will be = future tense  Correct : I got home late and Mom yelled at me for not calling to let her know where I had been. This sentence is now written in one tense. Which tense is it?

Regular / Irregular Verbs  Regular verbs have a certain pattern.  Today I cook. Yesterday I cooked. I have cooked many times.  I jump rope. I jumped rope last week. I have jumped rope many times.  Irregular verbs do not always follow a pattern. You simply have to know them.  The grass grows. Yesterday, the grass grew. It has grown a lot this week.  I take the picture. I took the picture yesterday. I have taken a lot of pictures.

Regular / Irregular Verbs  Some irregular verbs sound the same, but do not follow the same pattern. sinksanksunk shrinkshrankshrunk thinkthoughtthought sing sangsung ringrangrung bringbroughtbrought

Adjectives  An adjective is a word that describes (or modifies ) a noun or a pronoun.  Adjectives can tell us  Which one – this, that  What kind – red, large, dark, beautiful  How many – eleven, several, many

What am I?  One word can be identified as different parts of speech depending on how it is used.  I bought a can of paint. (NOUN)  I painted the bathroom wall. (VERB)  The house is painted. (ADJECTIVE)

Adverbs  An adverb is a word that describes (or modifies) a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.  Adverbs answer the questions Where?, When?, In what way?, and To what extent?  Many, but not all, adverbs end in –ly.  quickly, suddenly, quietly, carefully

Prepositions  A preposition is a word that shows how a noun or pronoun relates to another part of the sentence.  in, on, by, with, to, for, toward, etc.  Prepositions can show time, direction, location, cause or possession. Example: I am swimming toward the shark. (Bad idea.) I am swimming away from the shark. (Good call.) I am swimming inside the shark. (Bummer.)

Prepositions in Sentences  When writing, you should try to avoid ending a sentence with a preposition.  Bad sentence : Notice the ease Carlos hits the ball with.  Good sentence: Notice the ease with which Carlos hits the ball.  Bad: I’m the one she’s sitting next to.  Good: She is sitting next to me.

Adverb or Preposition???  Words can be identified as different parts of speech depending upon how they are used.  Example: Preposition: She went inside the house. Adverb: She went inside. * If an object accompanies the word, it is being used as a preposition.

Conjunctions  A conjunction is used to connect words or groups of words.  and, but, or, yet, etc. Conjunction Junction

Coordinating Conjunctions These are also known as “FANBOYS”.  For  And  Nor  But  Or  Yet  So I want to go to the beach, but it is going to rain. Bob left early, so I left with him.

Subordinating Conjunctions  Subordinating conjunctions join two complete ideas by making one of the ideas subordinate to, or dependent upon, the other.  We protect the wetlands because they are important to our ecosystem.  As soon as the volunteers arrived, the cleanup work began. afteras long as since until althoughbefore than unless aseven though so that when