Grammar Notes

1. Grammar Notes

2. Parts of Speech 8 Parts of Speech: • Nouns • Pronouns • Adjectives • Verbs • Adverbs • Conjunctions • Prepositions • Interjections

3. 1. Nouns the name of a person, place, thing, or idea A) common or proper? B) singular or plural? C) concrete or abstract?

4. Common or Proper? • Common nouns are NOT capitalized. Example: This dog is cute. • Proper nouns ARE capitalized. Example: Bellacino’s has the best pizza.

5. Singular or Plural? • Nouns are SINGULAR if they describe individual things. Example: That boy is hilarious. • Nouns are PLURAL if they describe multiple things. Example: Those boys are hilarious.

6. Concrete or Abstract? • Concrete nouns are names of OBJECTS. Example: The apple is turning brown. • Abstract nouns are names of IDEAS. Example: My freedom is something I cherish.

7. Collective Nouns • Collective nouns name GROUPS. Examples: My family is so weird. The audience was delighted with the man’s performance.

8. Collective Nouns – Singular or Plural? • Collective nouns can be singular OR plural based on how they are used in a sentence • Look at what verb is being used with the collective noun • Singular Example: The audienceis about to enter the auditorium. • Replace “audience” with the singular “boy” to make it clearer • Plural Example: The members of the audienceare about to enter the auditorium. • Replace “members of the audience” with the plural “boys” to make it clearer

9. Noun of Direct Address • When we call someone by his or her name, the person’s NAME is a noun of direct address Examples: John, bring that candy over here. What do you think of my project, Annabelle?

10. 2. Pronouns Words that take the place of nouns Example: Without the pronoun: James asked Beth to go out with James. With the pronoun: James asked Beth to go out with him.

11. What is an Antecedent? • The pronoun takes the place of a specific noun you’ve already mentioned. The noun that a pronoun refers to is called an antecedent. Snakesare dangerous if they bite. (antecedent) (pronoun) • They is a pronoun. Snakes is an antecedent. The antecedent is the word that the pronoun is referring to. **Not all pronouns refer to specific antecedents!** Example: He played it.

12. Personal Pronouns SingularPlural • First Person I, me we, us • Second Person you you • Third Person he, she, him, her, it they, them

13. Possessive Pronouns SingularPlural Used before nouns my, your, his, our, your, (these function as adjectives) her, its their Used alone mine, yours, ours, his, hers yours, theirs

14. Possessive Pronouns • Possessive pronouns show ownership and do NOTneed apostrophes. (They are pronouns but act as adjectives in sentences because they are modifying the object of which they are showing ownership. • Example: Bring the dog its food. • “It’s” = “It is”

15. Interrogative Pronouns Interrogative pronouns are used to interrogate (ask questions). Who is that? With whom would you like to speak? Whose jacket is that? Which one would you like? What kind of movie do you prefer?

16. Demonstrative Pronouns Demonstrative pronouns are used to demonstrate thoughts or ideas. (Avoid using these pronouns as subjects because they tend to be ambiguous.) Ambiguous: Non-Ambiguous: This is my favorite. This show is my favorite. That is disgusting. That broccoli is disgusting. These are fantastic. These books are fantastic. Those need to be washed. Those shirts need to be washed.

17. Reflexive Pronouns Reflexive Pronouns reflect back to a word used previously; end in -self/selves SingularPlural First Person myself ourselves Second Person yourself yourselves Third Person himself, herself, itself themselves

18. Indefinite Pronouns Indefinite Pronouns: general pronouns that do not have specific antecedents _____ Singular Plural Either_________ anybody both all anyone few any anything many most each several none either some everybody everyone everything neither nobody, no one, nothing, one, somebody, someone, something

19. Agreement • Pronouns must agree with their antecedents in number. If the noun is singular, the pronoun must be singular too. • The most common pronoun-antecedent agreement error occurs when indefinite pronouns are used. (-body, -one, -thing) • Example: Someone lost their notebook. • “Someone” is singular, so “their” needs to be changed to “his or her”

20. Pronoun Ambiguity • Pronouns are not specific which leads to pronoun ambiguity (unclear pronoun reference). • For example, when you use the word "he" in a paragraph, it can refer to any male in the paragraph.

21. 3. Adjectives 3) Adjective: a word that modifies a noun or pronoun (modify means to qualify or help describe) Example: The blue shack was falling apart. • Adjectives help us understand the subtle differences between similar things.

22. Degree • Adjectives can change degree. Positive  Comparative Superlative good  better  best smart  smarter smartest

23. Proper Adjectives • Properadjectives are made out of proper nouns. Examples: English literature, Spanishmoss, Canadian geese, Washington monument

24. Articles as Adjectives • Articles: the, a, an (little noun alert systems)  1) "The" is a definite article. Example: I have the cat.  2) "A" and "an" are indefinite articles. Example: I have a cat.

25. 4. Verbs • Verbs are doing words. A verb can express: • A physical action (e.g., to swim, to write, to climb). • A mental action (e.g., to think, to guess, to consider). • A state of being (e.g., to be, to exist, to appear).

26. Action vs. Linking Verbs • Action verbs express either a physical or mental action • Examples: climb, sneeze, write, reply, pull, suppose, expect, consider, remember • Linking verbs connect the subject to a word or word group that identifies or describes the subject • Examples: forms of the verb “be” (is, are, was, were, etc.); appear, remain, seem, smell, taste, feel, look, sound

27. How to Find Linking Verbs • If the linking verb isn’t a form of the verb be, it might be tricky to find. Just remember that if you can replace the verb with the words is, are, or was, it’s a linking verb. • Examples: • 1. Mother felt ill this morning. (was) • 2. The new student looks familiar to me. (is) • 3. This yogurt smells sour. (is)

28. 4 Principal Parts of the Verb A) infinitive: to walk, to swim B) present participle: is walking, is swimming C) past: walked, swam D) past participle: have walked, have swum *Note: Walk is a regular verb (“walked” follows the -ed pattern), while swim is an irregular verb (you say “swam” instead of “swimmed”).

29. Regular vs. Irregular Verbs InfinitivePresentPastPast ParticiplePresent Participle to jump (has) (is) to giggle (has) (is) to fix (has) (is) to bring (has) (is) to teach (has) (is) to write (has) (is)

30. Regular vs. Irregular Verbs InfinitivePresentPastPast ParticiplePresent Participle to jump jump(s) jumped (has) jumped (is) jumping to giggle giggle(s) giggled (has) giggled (is) giggling to fix fix(es) fixed (has) fixed (is) fixing to bring bring(s) brought (has) brought (is) bringing to teach teach(es) taught (has) taught (is) teaching to write write(s) wrote (has) written (is) writing Irregular Regular

31. Helping Verbs • Helping Verbs: help the main verb in a sentence • Helping verbs are NOT the only verbs in the sentence. • have helped, is eating, may teach, been fighting • There are 23 helping verbs.

32. Transitive vs. Intransitive Verbs • Transitive verbs act on a direct object. • Example: He ran the marathon. • Intransitive verbs do not act on a direct object. •  Example: He ran. (Direct object = a noun, pronoun, phrase, or clause that follows a transitive verb.)

33. Active vs. Passive • Active voice: The subject of the sentence is doing the action. • Example: Steve loves math. • Example: Fred threw the sandwich. • Passive voice:verbs show the subject being acted upon (the subject really isn’t doing the action). • Example: Math is loved by Steve. • Example: The sandwich was thrown by Fred.

34. Tense and Mood • Tense = time (present tense, past tense, future tense) • Mood • A) Indicative Mood - used to make factual statements, ask questions, or express opinions as if they were facts • Example: He ran from the dog. Did he run from the dog? •  B) Imperative Mood - expresses commands or requests • Example: Run away from the dog! •  C) Subjunctive Mood - explores imaginary situations • Example: If you run from the dog, maybe you’ll trip and fall.

35. 5. Adverbs An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, adjective, or other adverb. Adverbs tell how, when, where, and to what extent. (Many adverbs end in -ly; HOWEVER, not every word that ends in –ly is an adverb)

36. What Can Adverbs Modify? • An adverb can modify… • a verb (He drove slowly. — How did he drive?) • an adjective (He drove a very fast car. — How fast was his car?) • another adverb (She moved quite slowly down the aisle. — How slowly did she move?)

37. “How” Adverbs Lazily, carefully, so, well, gracefully, lifelessly, really, quickly, awkwardly, etc.

38. “When” Adverbs After, before, daily, never, soon, then, today, tomorrow, weekly, when, yesterday, etc.

39. “Where” Adverbs Anywhere, away, everywhere, somewhere, there, upstairs, etc.

40. “To What Extent” Adverbs Extremely, not, quite, rather, really, terribly, too, very, etc.

41. 6. Preposition • Preposition: a word that shows a relationship between its object and another word in the sentence • Examples: in, at, on, by, of, with Type of Relationship Examples • Time: before, during, after • Space: in, on, beside, around • Direction: to, from, toward (A complete list of prepositions can be found at http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/preposition.htm)

42. Object of the Preposition The preposition usually teams up with a noun, pronoun, or gerund, which then becomes the object of the preposition. Example: • We walked in the forest. • “in” is the preposition; “forest” is the object of the preposition • Social media sites are used mainly by teenagers. • “by” is the preposition; “teenagers” is the object of the preposition

43. Phrases vs. Clauses • Phrase – a group of two or more words that expresses a single idea but does not form a complete sentence (does NOT have a subject and a predicate!) • Clauses – a group of words WITH a subject and a predicate

44. Subjects and Predicates • Every clause contains two parts: a subject and a predicate. • The subject is what (or whom) the sentence is about • The predicate tells something about the subject • In the following sentences, the subject is bolded, and the predicate is underlined: • Judyruns. • Judy and her dogrun on the beach every morning. • To determine the subject of a sentence, first isolate the verb and then make a question by placing "who?" or "what?" before it -- the answer is the subject.

45. 2 Types of Clauses 1. Independent Clauses • a group of words that contains a subject and a verb and expresses a complete thought • an independent clause is a sentence • Example: Jim studied for his quiz 2. Dependent Clause (aka Subordinate Clause) • a group of words that contains a subject and a verb but does NOT express a complete thought • CANNOT be a sentence • often marked by a dependent marker word. • Example: WhenJim studied for his quiz

46. 7. Conjunction a word that joins two words or two groups of words (con = together, junct = join) 4 Types: A.) Coordinating Conjunctions B.) Subordinating Conjunctions C.) Correlative Conjunctions D.) Conjunctive Adverbs

47. A.) Coordinating Conjunctions connect words, phrases, and clauses Only 7 Coordinating Conjunctions: “FANBOYS” (For And Nor But Or Yet So) Examples: • I went to the store, and I bought a pineapple. • You came to school, but you fell asleep. • Allie doesn’t like cake, so she had a milkshake instead.

48. B.) Subordinating Conjunctions join a subordinate (dependent) clause to a main (independent) clause 7 Common Subordinating Conjunctions: “AAAWWUBBIS” (As Although After While When Unless Because Before If Since) Examples: • Although I am lactose intolerant, I still enjoy milk. • I try to read for 30 minutes before I go to bed. • Unless you enjoy snow, don’t go to App State. **Hint: You can switch the two separate parts of the sentence when subordinating conjunctions are used.**

49. C.) Correlative Conjunctions multiple-word conjunctions List of Common Correlative Conjunctions: both . . . and, not only . . . but also, not . . . but, either . . . or, neither . . . nor, whether . . . or  Examples: • Not only do I have a paper to write, but also I have math homework to complete. • Either you do your chores or you’re grounded for a week. • Neither the cat nor the dog like their toys.

50. D.) Conjunctive Adverbs When the job of an adverb is to connect ideas, we call it a conjunctive adverb. Here are some: Accordingly, also, besides, consequently, conversely, finally, furthermore, hence, however, indeed, instead, likewise, meanwhile, moreover, nevertheless, next, nonetheless, otherwise, similarly, still, subsequently, then, therefore, thus Examples: • Gregory hated calculus; nevertheless, he knew he needed to study in order to pass the class. • You drove while drunk and consequently crashed your car.