8/18/2009. Grammar is a way of thinking about language!!! (Write this down!!!) Noun Pronoun Adjective Verb Adverb Preposition Conjunction Interjection

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1 Grammar is a way of thinking about language!!! (Write this down!!!) Mrs. Malic 8 th Grade Parts of Speech (shows us each word):what is the word doing? Parts of Sentence (architecture of the idea): What is being said about what? Phrases (groups of words pretending to be a single part of speech): What part of speech is this group of words doing? Clauses (shows if more than one idea is drawn into the sentences design): How many different ideas are connected together in this sentence? Noun Pronoun Adjective Verb Adverb Preposition Conjunction Interjection Person, place or thing Proper noun: Capitalized Common noun: Not capitalized Possessive noun: words that would normally be nouns, but are used as adjectives to modify a noun Example: The dog's collar is too large. The word "dog's" is the possessive noun. It tells you that the noun "collar" belongs to the dog 1

2 A word that takes the place of a noun The pronoun s antecedent is the noun the pronoun replaces. Example: Jack walked in the room and then he sat down. We use them to make subjects. They may be used as subjects of clauses and as subject complements. They are not to be used as objects. Singular First Person: I Second Person: You Third Person: He, she, it Write down and memorize! Plural First Person: We Second Person: You Third Person: They Write down and memorize! They are pronouns that must be used as direct objects, indirect objects or objects of the preposition. Singular: First Person: Me Second Person: You Third Person: Him, Her, it Plural First Person: us Second Person: You Third Person: Them Write down and memorize! Write down and memorize! 2

3 A subject is a subject, and an object is an object. Any part of a sentence called a subject uses a subject pronoun. (subject of a clause or subject complement) Any part of a sentence called an object uses an object pronoun. (direct object, indirect object, object of a preposition) Possessive Pronouns: (show possession) My, your, his, her, its, our and their. Possessive case pronouns do not require an apostrophe!!!! Interrogative pronoun: (Used to interrogate) Who, whose, whom, which, what Demonstrative Pronouns: (Used to demonstrate) This, that, these, those Modify means to change Example: Think of a frozen summit. Now think of a political summit. Adjective is part of a binary system. The presence of an adjective implies the presence of a noun or pronoun. Positive: Good Comparative: Better Superlative: Best A An The 3

4 A word that shows action, being or links a subject to a subject complement. Tells what the noun does or is Action verb: might show an action on a direct object Linking verb: might link the subject to a subject complement Verb is saying that the noun did something or that the noun is something. ***Verbs are the core of everything we say about everything!!!! To do, to go, to think, to dream Past: did, went, thought, dreamed Doing, going, thinking, dreaming, ascending Past Participle: done, gone, thought, dreamed To shrink Shrinking Shrank Shrunk To write Writing Wrote Written Infinitive: Present participle: Memorize in order to use correctly. Memorize in order to use correctly. Definition: an action verb that acts on a direct object Example: The harpoon hit Moby Dick. An active verb is an action verb that shows the subject acting. Example: John discussed the problem. A passive voice verb is an action verb that shows the subject being acted upon. Example: The problem was discussed. Passive voice tends to leave out important information. (Who discussed the problem?) 4

5 Active Voice: The meteor struck the ship. Passive Voice: The ship was struck by the meteor. Active Voice: The Literary Society presented Dickens the award. Passive Voice: Dickens was presented with an award. Writers of scientific papers often prefer passive voice and past tense in order to describe the results of experiments and scientific investigations. With literary and historical figures, passive voice should be avoided. Six Verb Tenses: Present Past Future Present Perfect Past Perfect Future Perfect Present Past Future Present Perfect Past Perfect Future Perfect I protest I protested I will (shall) protest I have protested I had protested I will (shall) have protested Why are they called perfect? The three perfect tenses are called perfect because the word perfect comes from the Latin perficere, meaning: to finish. The perfect tenses are the tenses of things that are finished. Finished in the past, finished in the present or finished in the future. Parallelism in tense means sticking to the tense you are using. Keeping verb tenses parallel is good writing technique. Example: I went home, picked up the apple, threw it through the window, and laughed. (all past tense) 5

6 Keep parts of speech parallel Example: John was tall and handsome (adj) Example: John was tall and an athlete (adj and noun) Don t forget the magic 3!!! Insert picture here Only action verbs are transitive and intransitive, active or passive Those terms do not apply to linking verbs! An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, adjective or adverb. Beware of adverbs! Do not overuse due to your lack of vocabulary! Example: The very tall, gigantic statue vs. The colossus statue. The adverb is not your friend. Stephen King What do you think he means? Sometimes a modifier will backfire, especially when overused. One example is the adverb very. The adverb very often has the effect of weakening the sentence by filling it with empty space. The preposition shows a relationship between its object and another word in the sentence. Prepositions show relationship between time (before, during, after), space (in, on, beside, around), and direction (to, from, toward). 6

7 Prepositions show where two things are located in relationship to each other. Prepositions give language its geometry. They are the x, y, z coordinates for the mind. A word that joins two words or two groups of words. Coordinating conjunctions co-ordinate: Join two words or groups of words of similar importance. Memorize because you need to know in order to identify and punctuate compound sentences!!! And But Or Nor For So Yet Subordinate conjunctions join unequals They join something of lesser importance to something of greater importance Memorize for use with complex sentences!!! If, as, since, when, because Multiple word conjunctions: Either/or Neither/nor Example: Either you or I will arrive. Conjunctive adverbs are conjunctions that act both as adverbs and as conjunctions. However, furthermore, moreover, nevertheless, accordingly, and therefore. 7

8 A word that shows emotion but has no grammar function. The only part of speech that does not participate in a relationship with other parts of speech. Examples: oh, ugh, oof, wow, yes, not, oops. Nouns: name things Pronouns: make language fast Verbs: make events and equations Adjectives and Adverbs: adjust nouns and verbs Prepositions: show relationships of physics and 3-D ness Conjunctions: combine Interjections: emote All other parts of speech provide elaborations and variations. There are two main kinds of words: noun and verb All other six parts of speech play supporting roles A sentence is a group of words that contains a subject and its predicate, and makes a complete thought. When we study parts of the sentence, we are studying the structure of thought itself. The sentence is the mind, in language. Simple Subject: The noun or subject pronoun that the sentence is about. Complete Subject: the simple subject and all of its modifiers. Compound Subject: more than one noun or pronoun used as a double subject of the same clause (Example: Physics and astronomy are my favorite subjects.) (Compound subjects using and are plural. Compound subjects using or are singular. Example: John and Jim are here. John or Jim is here.) 8

9 The verb and other words that are about the subject. The side of the sentence that says something about the subject. Simple Predicate: the verb Complete Predicate: everything that is said about the subject Example: Hamlet went over to the crater and gathered three bags of comet dust. Compound verb: When the stars threw down their spears and watered heaven with their tears Simple sentence and simple predicate is always present as a nucleus of an idea!!!! A noun or object pronoun that receives the action of the action verb. When there is a direct object we call the action verb transitive (remember from verbs!) Subject pronouns may not be used as direct objects. (Remember, a subject is a subject and only and object is an object!) The direct object is the object of direct action. Example: We hold these truths to be selfevident. Focus on the difference between the direct object and subject complements (you will learn soon about these) Action verbs go with direct objects Linking verbs go with subject complements A noun or object pronoun that is indirectly affected by the action verb and that is located between the action verb and the direct object. Structure: S-AV-IO-DO Indirect object is indirectly affected by the action verb s action on the direct object. If there is an indirect object, there MUST be a direct object, and so the action verb is still transitive. A noun, subject pronoun, or adjective that is linked to the subject by a linking verb and tells more about the subject. The subject complement, in a sense, renames the subject. Example: Gauguin was Van Gogh s friend. Subject complement makes our knowledge of the subject more complete. Only a subject pronoun can be a subject complement, because a subject is a subject! 9

10 Predicate nominative: a subject complement that is a noun or subject pronoun. Example: It was she and I who came to visit. Predicate adjective: a subject complement made out of an adjective. Example: I am sleepy. If the verb is ACTION, then Do not look for a subject complement Look for a direct object If you find a direct object, then look for an indirect object If the verb is LINKING, then Do not look for a direct object Look for a subject complement The SUBJECT of the verb and the SUBJECT complement use SUBJECT pronouns The direct OBJECT and the indirect OBJECT use OBJECT pronouns The OBJECT of the preposition and the OBJECTS of the verbals also use OBJECT pronouns A group of words without a subject and its predicate that acts like a single part of speech. A phrase is like a flying formation of birds: it is something made of some things. A phrase is not a complete idea because it is a group of words that contain no subject/predicate set and only acts as a single part of speech 10

11 Both phrases and clauses are groups of words, but a clause contains both a subject and its predicate, a phrase does not. I jumped is a clause In the boat is only a phrase Phrases are found inside clauses; they are part of clauses. Clauses have subjects and predicates. Phrases don t. An appositive is an interrupting definition. It may consist of only one word, or it may consist on an entire phrase. We usually enclose appositives and appositive phrases in commas, unless they are exceptionally short and clear by themselves. Example: Botticelli, the Renaissance painter, painted angels. My friend Hamlet is a woodworking artist. A prepositional phrase begins with a preposition and concludes with the object of the preposition. The preposition relates its object to another word in the sentence. Example: the dog in the boat, the preposition in shows a spatial relationship between its object boat and the noun dog. Prepositional phrases behave as modifiers; that is, they act like big adjectives or big adverbs. Example: The dog in the boat barked. In the boat acts as an adjective to modify the noun dog. The object of the preposition is the thing that the preposition relates to something else. It must be a noun or object pronoun!!! (Because a subject is a subject and an object is an object) Example: The letter is for him and me. She and I went with you and him. I asked a question about her and us. Adjective prepositional phrases: Prepositional phrases that modify nouns or pronouns should be placed immediately after the noun or pronoun they modify. Otherwise, the phrase will be understood to modify the verb. 11

12 A verb form used as a different part of speech. A verbal is not a verb; it is a former verb doing something else. Gerunds, participles and infinitives are three kinds of verbals. Verbals are nouns, adjectives or adverbs made out of verbs. A noun made from a ing verb. Gerund phrase: a gerund is a noun made out of an ing verb or an ing berb made into a noun. Subjects and objects may be made out of gerunds or gerund phrases. Examples: Thinking is fun. Thinking quickly is fun. I quit joking. An adjective made out of a verb. An ing, -ed, or en verb made into an adjective. Participles always act as adjectives to modify nouns or pronouns. Example: The river was so swollen. A noun or modifier made from the to- form of the verb. Infinitive phrase: an infinitive is a general form of the verb made into a noun, adjective, or adverb. Usually expressed by beginning with the word to: to think, to dream, to snorkel We think of an infinitive as one word. Avoid split infinitives: splitting an infinitive means inserting an adverb between the two words of the infinitive. Example: to see (infinitive) to vividly see (split infinitive) to see vividly (better word choice) Phrases are groups of words that cluster together in order to act as a single part of speech. Prepositional phrases are modifiers that act as adjectives or adverbs. Appositive phrases are interrupting definitions so they are adjectives. 12

13 Verbal phrases are based on verbs that have been adopted to become other parts of speech. Participles: verbals that act as adjectives. Infinitives: verbals that are nouns or modifiers that begin with to. Gerunds: verbals ending in ing and acting as nouns. Can be the subject of a sentence or a direct object. ***The object of verbals must be object pronouns. A group of words that contains a subject and its predicate Two types: independent clause: a clause that makes sense independently dependent clause: a clause that does not make sense unless it is paired with an independent clause. (Sometimes called subordinating clauses often begin with subordinating conjunctions.) Adjective dependent clause: A dependent clause used as an adjective Adjective clauses begin with relative pronouns. The man who followed you turned left. Adverb dependent clause: adverb clauses are dependent clauses that act as adverbs. Usually begin with subordinate conjunctions. Noun clauses: dependent clauses that act as nouns Dependent clauses can not be used as sentences by themselves; they depend on an independent clause for meaning. Dependent clauses may be placed before, after, or even in the middle of an independent clause. A clause has both a subject and predicate, like a sentence, but a sentence always has a complete thought, whereas a clause might be incomplete. A sentence can consist of several clauses. Every sentence has at least one independent clause in it but not every clause is a sentence because a dependent clause does not make a complete thought it is dependent upon an independent clause. 13

14 Simple sentence: consist of one independent clause Compound sentence: a sentence compounded of two or more independent clauses Complex sentence: a sentence that consists of an independent clause and a dependent clause. Compound-complex sentence: a sentence that contains both complex and compound clause structures. (Two independent clauses and at least one dependent clause) I, cc I (comma before coordinating conjunction in compound sentence) I;I (semicolon between independent clauses if no coordinating conjunction) ID (no comma after independent clause in complex sentence) D,I (comma after dependent clause in complex sentence) Joining two independent clauses with a comma (I,I) To correct this error, either insert a coordinating conjunction after the comma, or change the comma to a semicolon. Declarative sentence: sentence that declares (states) Example: I will. Interrogative sentence: sentence that interrogates (asks) Example: Do I dare eat a peach? Imperative sentence: sentence that commands Example: Do not go gentle into that good night. Exclamatory sentence: sentence that exclaims. Example: I will! 14