Grammar Notes 1 A noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea.

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1 Grammar Notes 1 A noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea. A singular noun names one person, place, thing, or idea, and a plural noun names more than one. Most plural nouns are formed by adding -s to the singular form. Words that end in ch, sh, s, x, or z form the plural by adding -es. Words that end in a consonant and y form the plural by changing y to i and adding -es. Some plurals are formed irregularly, for example, child, children; foot, feet; mouse, mice. Some singular and plural forms are the same, for example, sheep, deer, series. SINGULAR PLURAL SINGULAR PLURAL Person: child children Thing: piano pianos Place: corner corners Idea: religion religions A collective noun names a group. A collective noun is singular when it refers to the group as a whole. It is plural when it refers to the individual members of a group. The jury is still deliberating. (singular) The jury are arguing loudly. (plural)

2 Grammar notes 2 Nouns: Proper and Common; Concrete and Abstract A proper noun is a noun that names a particular person, place, thing, or idea. A proper noun begins with a capital letter. A common noun is the general name of a person, place, thing, or idea. PROPER COMMON Person: Uncle Al uncle Place: Dominican Republic country Thing: Schindler s List movie Idea: (the) Renaissance era A concrete noun names an object that occupies space or can be recognized by any of the senses. An abstract noun names an idea, quality, or characteristic. Concrete: sneeze, star, explosion, hedgehog, chimney Abstract: politeness, ability, honesty, love, beauty

3 Grammar notes 3 Pronouns: Personal and Possessive; Reflexive and Intensive A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun, a group of words acting as a noun, or another pronoun. A personal pronoun refers to a specific person or thing and can be either singular or plural. The first person indicates the person speaking. The second person indicates the person being addressed. The third person indicates the person or thing being discussed. SINGULAR PLURAL First Person I, me we, us Second Person you you Third Person he, him they, them she, her, it We are aware that you will be bringing them to the party. A possessive pronoun indicates possession or ownership. It takes the place of the possessive form of a noun. It shows ownership. SINGULAR PLURAL First Person my, mine our, ours Second Person your, yours your, yours Third Person his their, theirs her, hers, its My coat and your bookbag are in her locker. A reflexive pronoun refers to a noun or another pronoun and indicates that the same person or thing is involved. It reflects back like a mirror. An intensive pronoun adds emphasis to a noun or another pronoun. It shows intensity. SINGULAR PLURAL First Person myself ourselves Second Person yourself yourselves Third Person himself, herself, itself themselves Ex. Reflexive: I bought myself a pair of jeans. Ex. Intensive: I myself bought a pair of jeans. (Notice the intensity.)

4 Grammar Notes 4 Pronouns: Interrogative, Relative, Demonstrative, Indefinite A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun, a group of words acting as a noun, or another pronoun. An interrogative pronoun is used to form a question. It shows an interrogation or questioning. who whom whose what which Ex. Which is the correct answer? Who made the statement? What is the question? A relative pronoun is used to begin some subject-verb word groups called subordinate clauses. It makes a subject-verb become a fragment. who whom whose whoever whomever which whichever that what whosoever whatever Ex. Maya is the student who wrote the article. A demonstrative pronoun points out specific persons, places, things, or ideas. Think of someone demontrating a product. He or she would say the words below in their demonstration. this these that those Ex. These are the most interesting videodiscs. An indefinite pronoun refers to persons, places, or things in a more general way than a noun does. all both everything none several another each few no one some any either many nothing somebody anybody enough most one someone anyone everybody neither other something anything everyone nobody others Ex. Few are ever found again.

5 Grammar Notes 5 Verbs: Action (Transitive/Intransitive) A verb is a word that expresses action or a state of being and is necessary to make a statement. An action verb tells what someone or something does. Some action verbs express physical action. Other action verbs express mental action. A transitive verb is an action verb that is followed by a word or words that answer the question what? or whom? Ex. The dancer performed the most difficult movements. (The action verb performed is followed by the noun movements, which answers the question what?) An intransitive verb is an action verb that is not followed by words that answer the question what? or whom? Ex. The dancer performed gracefully. (The action verb performed is followed by a word that tells how.)

6 Grammar Notes 6 Verbs: Linking A linking verb links, or joins, the subject of a sentence (often a noun or pronoun) with a word or expression that identifies or describes the subject. Be in all its forms (Be, being, am, is, are, was, were) is the most common linking verb. Other linking verbs include look, sound, feel, grow, remain, stay, seem, appear, become, and taste. Ex. I am a soldier. Bananas were plentiful. Ex. The opera sounded wonderful. She felt sad.

7 Lesson 7 Verb Phrases The verb in a sentence may consist of more than one word. The words that accompany the main verb are called auxiliary, or helping, verbs. A verb phrase consists of a main verb and all its auxiliary verbs. forms of be am, is, are, was, were, being, been forms of have has, have, had other auxiliaries can, could, may, might, shall, will, do, does, did, must, should, would The most common auxiliary verbs are the forms of be and have. Ex. They are going. They have gone. They had been going. The other auxiliary verbs are not used primarily to express time. Ex. She should be arriving. Could she have arrived? Ex. She could already be sitting there.

8 Grammar Notes 8 Adjectives An adjective is a word that modifies a noun or pronoun by limiting its meaning. Ex. shiny toaster friendly neighbor horrible accident green bird that book Articles are the adjectives a, an, and the. A and an are indefinite articles. The is the definite article. Possessive pronouns, such as my and our, can be considered adjectives because they modify nouns. Similarly, possessive forms of nouns, such as Roger s and the aptain s, can also be considered adjectives. A proper adjective is formed from a proper noun and begins with a capital letter. Ex. Cervantes was a Spanish writer. The Korean restaurant is very popular.

9 Grammar Notes 9 Adverbs An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb by making its meaning more specific. Adverbs modify by answering the questions when? where? how? and to what degree? Ex. We left early for the soccer game. (The adverb early modifies the verb left by answering the question when?) Ex. Janine waited there for the bus. (The adverb there modifies the verb waited by answering the question where?) Ex. The nurse quietly shut the door of the hospital room. (The adverb quietly modifies the verb shut by answering the question how?) Ex. Very few things in life are completely perfect. (The adverb completely modifies the adjective perfect by answering the question to what degree?) Negative words, such as not and its contraction -n t, are also considered adverbs. Other negative words such as nowhere, hardly, and never can also function as adverbs. Ex. The boat has not arrived. I have never eaten squid. Some adverbs have different forms to indicate degree of comparison. POSITIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE walks fast walks faster walks fastest writes neatly writes more neatly writes most neatly hears well hears better hears best behaves badly behaves worse behaves worst When an adverb modifies a verb, it may be placed in various positions in relation to the verb. When an adverb modifies an adjective or another adverb, it comes immediately before the modified word. Modifying a verb Ex. Danielle is probably eating lunch. Ex. Danielle probably is eating lunch. Ex. Probably Danielle is eating lunch. Modifying an adjective Ex.. The ground was very dry. Modifying an adverb Ex. We almost always take our dog. _

10 Grammar Notes 10 Prepositions A preposition is a word that shows the relationship of a noun or a pronoun to some other word in a sentence. Ex. The cat food is inside the cupboard. We ll go to the movie after lunch. These are some commonly used prepositions: aboard as but (except) in out toward about at by inside outside under above before concerning into over underneath across behind despite like past until after below down near pending unto against beneath during of regarding up along beside except off since upon amid besides excepting on through with among between for onto throughout within around beyond from opposite to without A compound preposition is a preposition made up of more than one word. according to apart from because of in front of next to out of ahead of aside from by means of in spite of on account of owing to along with as to in addition to instead of on top of Prepositions begin phrases that generally end with a noun or a pronoun called the object of the preposition. Ex. The horses jumped over the fence. They showered the king with gifts.

11 Grammar Notes 11 Conjunctions: Coordinating, Correlative, and Subordinating; Interjections A conjunction is a word that joins single words or groups of words. A coordinating conjunction joins words or groups of words that have equal grammatical weight in a sentence. And, but, or, nor, for, so, and yet are coordinating conjunctions. Ex. Germaine washed the dishes and dried them. Ex. The squirrel buried the nut, but the dog dug it up. Correlative conjunctions work in pairs to join words and groups of words of equal weight in a sentence. both...and just as...so not only...but also either...or neither...nor whether...or Ex. Both whales and dolphins are mammals. Ex. Whether I fail or succeed, my parents will still support me. A subordinating conjunction joins two ideas, or clauses, so that one is grammatically dependent on the other. after as long as if than whenever although as soon as in order that though where as as though since unless whereas as far as because so until wherever as if before so that when while Ex. He listened to music until he fell asleep. Ex. Whenever I see a mountain, I want to climb it. An interjection is a word that expresses emotion or exclamation. An interjection has no grammatical connection to other words. oh wow oops ouch well whew ah yipes uh-oh gee ow hey hooray alas why man my uh-huh Ex. Why, I didn t realize that. Oops, sorry about that. Uh-oh, she d better watch out.