Name: Parts of Speech Basic Overview Notes Directions: Follow along with the PowerPoint and fill in the blanks with the correct word or words from each slide. Nouns A noun is a word that denotes a,, or. In a sentence, nouns answer the questions who and what. Example: The dog ran after the ball. In the sentence above, there are two nouns, and. A noun may be concrete (something you can touch, see, etc.), like the nouns in the example above, or a noun may be abstract, as in the sentences below. Example 1: She possesses integrity. Example 2: He was searching for love. The concepts of integrity and love in the sentences above are both nouns. Nouns may also be proper when they refer to the names of people, places, organizations, and sometimes things. Example 1: She visited Chicago every year. Example 2: Thanksgiving is in November., Thanksgiving, and are all proper nouns, and they should be capitalized. Pronouns A pronoun is a that takes the place of a in a sentence. Example: She decided to go to a movie. In the sentence above, is the pronoun. Like nouns, pronouns may be used either as or as in a sentence. Example: She planned to ask him for an interview. In the example above, both she and him are pronouns; she is the of the sentence while is the object. These different variations are known as cases.
The three types of cases are: 1. case: pronouns used as subject. 2. case: pronouns used as objects of verbs or prepositions. 3. case: pronouns which express ownership. The chart below shows the subjective, objective, and possessive case of different pronouns. Pronouns as Subjects Pronouns as Objects Pronouns that show Possession I me you your (yours) he, she, it his, her (hers), it (its) we us them their (theirs) who whom The pronouns This,, These,, and Which do not change form. Problems with Pronoun Case: 1. In compound structures, where there are pronouns or a and a pronoun, drop the other noun for a moment. Then you can see which case you want. Not: Bob and me travel a good deal. (Would you say, "me travel"?) Not: He gave the flowers to Jane and I. (Would you say, "he gave the flowers to I"?) Not: Us men like the coach. (Would you say, "us like the coach"?) 2. In comparison structures, usually there are words. If you complete the comparison in your head, you can choose the correct case for the pronoun. Comparisons usually follow than or as. Comparisons are really shorthand sentences which usually omit words, such as those in the parentheses in the sentences above. If you complete the comparison in your head, you can choose the correct case for the pronoun. Not: He is taller than me. (Would you say, "than me am tall"?) This helps you as much as (it helps) me. She is as noisy as I (am).
Noun/Pronoun Agreement Because a pronoun to or TAKES THE PLACE OF a noun, you have to use the correct pronoun so that your reader clearly understands to which your pronoun is referring. Therefore, pronouns should: 1. Agree in 2. Agree in 3. Refer clearly to a noun 1. Agree in number If the pronoun takes the place of a singular noun, you have to use a pronoun. If a student parks a car on campus, he or she has to buy a parking sticker. (INCORRECT: If a student parks a car on campus, they have to buy a parking sticker.) The words everybody, anybody,, each, neither, nobody,, a person, etc. are singular and take singular pronouns. Everybody ought to do his or her best. (INCORRECT: best) NOTE: Many people find the construction "his or her" wordy, so it is permissible to use just "his" or "her" rather than "his or her." 2. Agree in person If you are writing in the person (I), don't confuse your reader by switching to the second person (you) or person (he, she, they, it, etc.). Similarly, if you are using the person, don't switch to first or third. When a person comes to class, he or she should have his or her homework ready. (INCORRECT: When a person comes to class, you should have your homework ready.) 3. Refer clearly to a specific noun. Don't be or ambiguous. INCORRECT: Although the motorcycle hit the tree, it was not damaged. (Is "it" the motorcycle or the tree?)
Verbs A verb is a word that denotes, or a state of, in a sentence. Example 1: Beth rides the bus every day. Example 2: Paul was an avid reader. In example 1, is the verb; it describes what the subject, Beth, does. In example 2, describes Paul s state of being and is therefore the verb. There may be multiple verbs in a sentence, or there may be a verb phrase consisting of a verb plus a helping verb. Example 1: She turned the key and opened the door. Example 2: Jackson was studying when I saw him last. In example 1, the subject she performs two actions in the sentence, and. In example 2, the verb phrase is. Verb Tenses Strictly speaking, in English, only two tenses are marked in the verb alone, present (as in "he sings") and past (as in "he sang"). Understanding the six basic tenses allows one to re-create much of the reality of time in his writing. Simple Present: They Present Perfect: They walked Simple Past: They Past Perfect: They walked Future: They walk Future Perfect: They will walked Problems in sequencing tenses usually occur with the perfect tenses, all of which are formed by adding an auxiliary or auxiliaries to the past participle, the third principal part. walk, walked, walked The most common auxiliaries are forms of "be," "can," "do," "may," "must," "ought," "shall," "will," "has," "have," "had," and they are the forms we shall use in this most basic discussion.
Present Perfect The present perfect consists of a tense verb with "has" or "have." It shows action which began in the past but which continues into the present. 1. Betty for ten years. (simple past) 2. Betty taught for ten years. (present perfect) The implication in example 1 is that Betty has retired; in example 2, that she is still teaching. Past Perfect The past perfect tense shows action in the past just as simple past does, but the action of the past perfect is action in the past before another action. 1. Renee the car when George arrived (simple past) 2. Renee washed the car when George arrived. (past perfect) In example 1, she waited until George arrived and then washed the car. In example 2, she had already finished washing the car by the time he arrived. In sentences expressing condition and result, the past perfect tense is used in the part that states the condition. Future Perfect 1. If I done my exercises, I would have passed the test. 2. I think George would been elected if he hadn't sounded so pompous. The future perfect tense designates action that will have been completed at a time in the. Review 1. Saturday I finish my housework. (simple future) 2. By Saturday noon, I will finished my housework. (future perfect) 1. Judy saved thirty dollars. ( ) 2. Judy will save thirty dollars. ( ) 3. Judy has saved thirty dollars. ( ) 4. Judy had saved thirty dollars by the end of last month. ( ) 5. Judy will have saved thirty dollars by the end of this month. ( )
Adjectives An adjective is a word that, or describes, a noun or pronoun. Adjectives may come nouns, or they may appear after a form of the verb to be (am, are, is, was, etc.). Example 1: We live in the red brick house. Example 2: She is tall for her age. In example 1, two consecutive adjectives, and, both describe the noun house. In example 2, the adjective appears after the reflexive verb is and describes the subject, she. Basic Adjective Rules Adjectives modify nouns or. 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. "I ate an enormous lunch." Lunch is a noun, and enormous is an adjective that it. It tells us of meal the person ate. Generally speaking, adjectives answer the following questions:? What of? How? Adjective vs. Adverb Be sure to understand the differences between the following two examples: "The dog smells carefully." Here, carefully describes the dog is smelling. We imagine him sniffing very cautiously: therefore carefully is acting as an, not an ADJECTIVE But: "The dog smells clean." Here, clean describes the itself. It's not that he's smelling clean things or something; it's that he's had a bath and does not stink. Adverbs Adverbs modify verbs,, and other. (You can recognize adverbs easily because many of them are formed by adding to an adjective, though that is not always the case.)
Let's look at verbs first. "She sang beautifully." Beautifully is an adverb that modifies. It tells us she sang. Adverbs also modify and other adverbs. "That woman is extremely nice." Nice is an that modifies the noun woman. Extremely is an that modifies nice; it tells us how nice she is. How nice is she? She's extremely nice. So, generally speaking, adverbs answer the question how. However, they can also answer the questions, where, and. Prepositions Prepositions work in combination with a or pronoun to create phrases that modify, nouns/pronouns, or. Prepositional phrases convey a spatial, temporal, or directional meaning. Example 1: Ivy climbed up the brick wall of the house. There are two prepositional phrases in the example above: up the brick wall and of the house. The first prepositional phrase modifies the by describing where the ivy climbed. The second phrase further modifies the wall and describes which wall the ivy climbs. Prepositions are most often used to show and. Below is a list of common prepositions in the English language: Aboard, about,, across, after, against, along, amid,, around, at, before, behind, below, beneath, beside,, beyond, by, down, during, except, for, from, in,, like, near, of, off, on, onto, out, over, past, since,, throughout, to, toward, under, underneath,, unto, up, upon, with, within, without. Conjunctions A conjunction is a word that joins two clauses, or sentences, together. Example 1: Ellen wanted to take a drive into the city, but the cost of gasoline was too high. Example 2: Richard planned to study abroad in Japan, so he decided to learn the language.
In the examples above, both and are conjunctions. And, but, for, or, nor, so, and yet can all act as conjunctions. Articles Articles include a, an, and the. They precede a or a noun phrase in a sentence. A vs. An Example 1: They wanted a house with a big porch. Example 2: He bought the blue sweater on sale. The choice of article is actually based upon the phonetic ( ) quality of the first letter in a word, not on the orthographic ( ) representation of the letter. If the first letter makes a vowel-type sound, you use "an"; if the first letter would make a consonant-type sound, you use "a." "A" goes before words that begin with. a cat a dog a purple onion a big apple "An" goes before words that begin with. an apricot an egg an orbit an uprising Exceptions Use "an" before unsounded "." Because the " " hasn't any phonetic representation and has no audible sound, the sound that follows the article is a vowel; consequently, "an" is used. an honorable peace an error When "u" makes the same sound as the "y" in "you," or "o" makes the same sound as "w" in "won," then a is used. a united front a a used napkin a man All materials contained in this document were taken from the Purdue Online Writing Lab at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/730/01/