UNIT 3: GRAMMAR AND USAGELessons 29 - 35

NOUNS

There are two main classes of nouns: common and proper nouns.

A common noun names any of one class of objects. Examples: boy, country, flower

A proper noun names a particular person, place, or thing. It begins with a capital letter. Examples: Ms. De Masi, Parliament

Buildings

Underline each noun. Then write C or P above it to show whether it is a common or proper noun. Levi is my best friend. Victoria is the chief city on Vancouver Island and

capital of British Columbia. The Magdalen Islands are located in the Gulf of St.

Lawrence. A killer tornado ripped through southern Ontario last

May. John Bassett II and Elmer Iseler, two famous

Canadians, died in April 1998.

A concrete noun names things you can see and touch. Examples: sea, book, train, hotel

An abstract noun names an idea, quality, or feeling. Examples : cowardice, stubbornness, jealousy

A collective noun names a group of persons or things. Examples : audience, crowd, committee

Create meaningful sentences using the nouns in brackets. Note that collective nouns usually take a singular verb. (honesty) (Jury) (motorbikes) (Family)

SINGULAR AND PLURAL NOUNS

The following chart shows how to change singular nouns into plural nouns.NOUN PLURAL FORM EXAMPLES

Most nouns Add –s Ship, ships

Nouns ending in a consonant and -y

Change the –y to –i and add –es Sky, skies

Nouns ending in –o Add –es or-s Hero, heroesSolo, solos

Most nouns ending in –f or –fe Change the –f or –fe to -ves Half, halves

Most nouns ending in –ch, -sh, -s, or –x

Add –es Bush, bushesLoss, lossesTax, taxes

Many two-word or three-word compound nouns

Add –s to the principle word Son-in-law, sons-in law

Nouns with the same form in the singular and plural

No Change Sheep

Nouns that are exceptions to the rules

*Special Cases* Woman, women

Use the correct plural form for each singular noun. Piglet Hobo Duck Tragedy County Elf Sheep

Rewrite the sentences, changing each underlined singular noun to a plural noun. The hero saved the child from the burning

building. Dan took five photo of the reindeer. Her son-in-law and brother attended the

ceremony.

POSSESSIVE NOUNS

A possessive noun shows possession of the noun that follows.

Form the possessive of most singular nouns by adding an apostrophe (’) and add –s. Examples:

The girl’s car Mr. Lewis’s book

Form the possessive of a plural noun ending in –s by adding only an apostrophe. Examples:

The Wongs’ home Boys’ jeans Brothers’ business

Form the possessive of a plural noun that does not end in –s by adding an apostrophe and –s. Examples:

Children’s clothes Women’s shoes

Rewrite each phrase using a possessive noun. The cap belonging to Jim. The wrench that belongs to Kathy. The smile of the baby. The shoes that belong to the runners The lunches of the children

VERB TENSES

Verb tense tells the time of the action or the state of being of a verb.

The present tense tells what is happening now. Example: Sally loves her husband.

The past tense tells about something that happened in the past. Sally loved her husband.

The future tense tells about something that will happen in the future. Example: They will meet again when the war is over.

A common writing error is inconsistency in verb tenses.

Write a few sentences in the present, past, and future. Be sure that the verb tenses are consistent.

PRESENT PERFECT AND PAST PERFECT TENSES

The perfect tenses express action that happened before another time or event.

The present perfect tense tells about something that happened at an indefinite time in the past. The present perfect tense consists of has or have + past participle. Examples: I have eaten already. He has

eaten, too.

The past perfect tense tells about something that happened before something else in the past. The past perfect tense consists of had + the past participle. Example: I already had eaten when they

arrived.

Complete each sentence with have, has, or had to form the verb tense indicated in parentheses. (present perfect) The dog __________ eaten the

ham on the table. (past perfect) The doctor ___________ warned

him to stop smoking. (present perfect) The diver __________ located

pieces from the shipwreck. (past perfect) The lacrosse team __________ won

every game last season.

PAST TENSE OF SOME IRREGULAR VERBS Never use a helping verb with: froze, chose,

spoke, and broke. Always use a helping verb with: frozen,

chocen, spoken, and broken. Underline the correct verb form to complete

each sentence. Haven’t these politicians (spoke, spoken) yet? Has the ice (froze, frozen) on the pond? Romina (broke, broken) the handle of the

baseball bat.

Never use a helping verb with came, rang, drank, knew, and threw.

Always use a helping verb with come, rung, drunk, known, and thrown.

Write a sentence using each verb below: Come Rang Threw Drunk

Never use a helping verb with gave, took, and wrote.

Always use a helping verb with given, taken, and written.

Underline the correct verb: Who (wrote, written) the best essay? Have you (gave, given) her name to the

police? Haven’t you (take, taken) your seat yet?

Never use a helping verb with ate, fell, drew, drove, and ran.

Always use a helping verb with eaten, fallen, drawn, driven, and run.

Write the correct past tense form of each verb in parentheses to complete the sentences. (draw) Since Selma knew the city well, She

___________________ a map for us. (fall) The police warned us that the hydro lines had

___________________ on the highway. (eat) In order to avoid crowds at the snack bar, we

___________________ our dinner later.

Never use a helping verb with saw, went, and began.

Always use a helping verb with seen, gone, and begun.

Write a sentence using each verb below: Saw Seen Began

Never use a helping verb with did. Always use a helping verb with done. Doesn’t is the contraction of does not.

Use it with singular nouns and the pronouns he, she, and it. Example: Hannah doesn’t live here.

Don’t is the contraction of do not. Use it with plural nouns and with the pronouns I, you, we, and they. Example:

Mr. And Mrs. Matters don’t have teenagers. You don’t have your wallet.

Write one sentence using did and one sentence using done.