Grammar and Composition Review

8 Parts of Speech

NounPronounVerbAdjectivesAdverbsPrepositionsConjunctionsInterjections

Noun

A noun is the name of a person, place, thing, or idea.

A proper noun, which names a specific person, place, or thing (Carlos, Queen Marguerite, Middle East, Jerusalem, Malaysia, Presbyterianism, God, Spanish, Buddhism, the Republican Party), is almost always capitalized.

Common nouns name everything else, things that usually are not capitalized.

Pronoun

A pronoun can replace a noun or another pronounPronouns should:

◦ Agree in number If the pronoun takes the place of a singular noun, you have

to use a singular pronoun. Ex:If a student parks a car on campus, he or she has to buy

a parking sticker. (Not they)◦ Agree in person

If you are writing in the "first person" ( I), don't confuse your reader by switching to the "second person" ( you) or "third person" (he, she, they, it, etc.). Similarly, if you are using the "second person," don't switch to "first" or "third.“

Ex: When a person comes to class, he or she should have his or her homework ready. (Not you)

Pronoun (cont.)

◦Refer clearly to a noun Don't be vague or ambiguous. Ex: If you put this sheet in your notebook, you can

refer to it. (What does "it" refer to, the sheet or your notebook?)

Pronouns can be used as 3 different cases:◦Subjective: pronouns used as subject.◦Objective: pronouns used as objects of verbs or

prepositions.◦Possessive: pronouns which express ownership.

Pronoun (cont.)

Pronouns as Subjects

Pronouns as Objects

Pronouns that shows Possession

I Me My (mine)

You You Your (yours)

He, she, it Him, her, it His, her (hers), it (its)

We Us Our (ours)

They Them Their (theirs)

Who Whom Whose

Verb

Verbs carry the idea of being or action in the sentence.

There are six tenses of verbs.◦Simple Present: They walk◦Present Perfect: They have walked◦Simple Past: They walked◦Past Perfect: They had walked◦Future: They will walk◦Future Perfect: They will have walked

Verbs can be written in active or passive voice.

Verbs (cont.)

A gerund is a verbal that ends in -ing and functions as a noun.

Many English sentences contain a verb phrase. The verb that carries the main meaning is the main verb. The other words in the verb phrase are the helping verbs.

There are four categories of helping verbs.

Verbs (cont.)

Modals◦ There are nine modal verbs: can, could, may, might, must,

shall, should, will, and would.◦ After a modal verb, use the base form of the verb.◦ Ex: The system must meet all applicable codes.

Forms of do◦ Do, does, or did◦ Ex: Do we need to include the figures for the recovery rate?

Forms of have plus the past participle◦ To form one of the perfect tenses (past, present, or future),

use a form of have as the helping verb plus the past participle of the verb (-ed) Past Perfect: had written Present Perfect: have written Future Perfect: will have written

Verbs (cont.)

Forms of be◦To describe an action in progress, use a form of

be (be, am, is, are, was, were, being, been) as the helping verb and the present participle (the –ing form of the verb) Ex: We are testing the new graphics tablet.

Adjectives

Adjectives modify nouns. To modify means to change in some way.◦For example: "I ate a meal." Meal is a noun. We

don't know what kind of meal; all we know is that someone ate a meal.

Adjectives usually answer one of a few different questions: "What kind?" or "Which?" or "How many?”◦For example: "The tall girl is riding a new bike." Tall

tells us which girl we're talking about. New tells us what kind of bike we're talking about.

Adverbs

Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.

The most common question that adverbs answer is how. They can also answer the questions when, where, and why.

She sang beautifully." Beautifully is an adverb that modifies sang. It tells us how she sang.

Adverbs (cont.)

That woman is extremely nice." Nice is an adjective that modifies the noun woman. Extremely is an adverb that modifies nice; it tells us how nice she is. How nice is she? She's extremely nice.

"It was a terribly hot afternoon." Hot is an adjective that modifies the noun afternoon. Terribly is an adverb that modifies the adjective hot. How hot is it? Terribly hot.

Prepositions

A preposition describes a relationship between other words in a sentence.

Prepositions are nearly always combined with other words in structures called prepositional phrases

A prepositional phrase consists of a preposition, a noun or pronoun that serves as the object of the preposition, and, more often than not, an adjective or two that modifies the object.

Conjunction

A conjunction is a joiner, a word that connects(conjoins) parts of a sentence.

Conjunctions: and, but, or, yet, for, nor, so

Interjection

Interjections are words or phrases used to exclaim or protest or command.

Wow!Oh!Hey!You There!