The Parts of Speech and Sentence Formulas The most basic of reviews for your test-taking pleasure!!
Nouns A noun is a person, place, thing, or idea. They can be common (book, desk), proper (John, Florida), collective (family, pack), or compound (middle school, doorknob). Additional examples: movie, dog, pizza, house, Falcon Cove Middle School, Declaration of Independence, Publix, Hollister, class, group, band, doghouse, left- handed See pages 296-300 in grammar text. Nouns
Sentence Formula: NP, app., predicate. You can vary your sentence structure by inserting an appositive within a sentence. An appositive describes or identifies a noun or a pronoun. Example: Mrs. Dilling, our language arts teacher, is reviewing the parts of speech with us. Sentence Formula: NP, app., predicate.
A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. Each pronoun has an antecedent (the noun for which the pronoun stands). Pronouns can be personal (I, you, they, he, it), demonstrative (this, that, these, those), interrogative (which, whose, whom, what, who), or indefinite (all, some, none, many, few) See pages 301-308 in grammar text. Pronouns
Interjections are exclamations that express feelings or emotions. Examples include: oh, wow, hey, uh, well, ugh See pages 381-382 in grammar text. Interjections
Verbs are words that name actions or describe states of being Verbs are words that name actions or describe states of being. They tell what is happening in a sentence. Verbs can be action (run, swim, talk, sleep), linking (am, is, are, was, were, feel, appear, look, seem), or helping (am running, was eating, may have felt, could be grown). See pages 314-331 in grammar text. Verbs
Adjectives are words that describe Adjectives are words that describe. They modify or change a noun or pronoun to make it more specific. Articles (a, an, the) are considered adjectives. Adjectives can sometimes also be nouns (shoe salesperson), proper (Florida wetlands), compound (well-known actress), pronouns (this bird, your property, Mrs. Dilling’s class, which dog) See pages 336-347 in grammar text. Adjectives
Adverbs modify or describe verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs Adverbs modify or describe verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. They answer questions such as where (travel everywhere), when (swims often), in what way (speaks well), to what extent (really surprised), etc. See pages 348-355 in grammar text. Adverbs
Sentence Formula: Adv., s. You can vary your sentence structure by beginning a sentence with an adverb followed by a sentence. Example: Unbelievably, every student forgot they had a grammar test this week. Sentence Formula: Adv., s.
Conjunctions Conjunctions connect words or groups of words together. Coordinating conjunctions connect similar words or groups of words. They can be represented by the acronym FANBOYS (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so). Correlative conjunctions are pairs of words that connect similar kinds or groups of words together (both…and, neither…nor, not only…but also, either…or, whether…or). See pages 376-380 in grammar text. Conjunctions
Sentence Formula: S, conj., s. You can vary your sentence structure by joining two sentences together with a conjunction to make one longer sentence. The two shorter sentences you are combining must relate in some way. Example: My favorite food of all time is chocolate, and I love bittersweet chocolate cake the best. Sentence Formula: S, conj., s.
Prepositions show relationships between words in a sentence Prepositions show relationships between words in a sentence. They relate a noun or pronoun following it to another word in the sentence. Prepositions always are a part of prepositional phrases, which contain the preposition and the object of the preposition. Examples of prepositions include above, beneath, between, near, under, within, up, toward. Examples of prepositional phrases include under the desk, beneath the tree, within the school. See pages 360-369 in grammar text. Prepositions
Sentence Formula: Prep. phrase, s. You can vary your sentence structure by beginning a sentence with a prepositional phrase. Example: Before I leave my house, I always make sure to turn off all the lights. Sentence Formula: Prep. phrase, s.