INTERJECTIONS
Definition: An interjection is a word or phrase that
expresses emotion or feeling, gives a command or fills a silence. It usually begins a sentence, but sometimes
it may interrupt a sentence or be at the end.
Examples (interjections are
in bold and underlined):
·
Yikes, it’s hot outside.
·
Ouch! I hurt my hand!
·
Hmm, that’s a good question.
·
We were, uh, going to
call you.
·
Yes, we are going to the store.
VERBS
Definition: A verb is an action word or a state of being
verb. The verb in a sentence is
connected with the subject of the sentence.
Verbs change form according to tense
(past, present, future), person
(first, second, third), number
(singular, plural), and voice (active,
passive).
Some verbs are action words: sing, dance, jump, eat, run, sit, etc.
Some state of being verbs: am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been,
seems, feels, appears
Helping verbs are added to action verbs to help
extend the meaning of the verb, especially with the tense: have, has, had, do, does, did, can, could,
may, might, will, would, shall, should, must, ought to
In
the following examples, the verbs (action, state of being, and helping) are
underlined and in bold:
·
My cousin sings in
the choir.
·
My cousin will sing in the choir.
·
My cousin is a singer
in the choir.
·
We drive to school
each day.
·
I could have driven to school last week.
·
She drove her car all
year long.
·
This apple feels
squishy.
·
This apple is
squishy.
·
Feel this squishy apple.
·
He sounded the alarm.
·
The alarm sounds too
loud.
More about VERBS
Tense
Verbs
show the time of the action by changing form.
Look at the table below for some examples
|
Past
(Yesterday)
|
Present
(Today)
|
Future
(Tomorrow)
|
1st person
|
I
walked
I
jumped
I
sat
|
I
walk
I
jump
I
sit
|
I
will walk
I
will jump
I
will sit
|
2nd person
|
You
walked
You
jumped
You
sat
|
You
walk
You
jump
You
sit
|
You
will walk
You
will jump
You
will sit
|
3rd person
|
He
walked
She
jumped
It
sat
|
He
walks
She
jumps
It
sits
|
He
will walk
She
will jump
It
will sit
|
ADJECTIVES
Definition: Adjectives are words that describe or modify
nouns (persons, places, or things) in the sentence. The articles — a, an, and
the — are adjectives. Multiple
adjectives can be used to modify/describe a noun. Possessive pronouns are also
adjectives (e.g. my, your, his, etc.)
Adjectives
answer these questions: what kind, which one, how many, and how much. They may be placed before the noun (or
pronoun), after the noun (or pronoun), or after a linking or helping verb.
In the following sentences,
the adjectives are underlined and in bold:
·
The funny movie was the
best part of a long day.
·
My old gray
sweater has a large hole on the left sleeve.
·
Four dogs ran wildly in the enormous hay
field.
·
That blue car belongs to his
grumpy Latin teacher.
·
The fifth student in that
long line fainted in the hot summer
sun.
NOUNS
Definition: A noun is a word (or phrase or clause) that
names a person, place, think, idea, or quality.
There
are several categories of nouns:
Common – every day words, not capitalized (ex: dog, cat, building, town, man, woman)
Proper – specific names, capitalized (ex: Spot, Fluffy, Empire State Building,
Northfield, Mr. Jones, Sally Forth)
Compound – nouns made up of two or more words
(ex: ice cream, playground, mainstream,
brother-in-law)
Collective – nouns that in its singular form denotes
many within (ex: army, company, herd)
Concrete – tangible, touchable things (ex: rock, ball, bird, house)
Abstract – a quality or idea; something that cannot
be touched (ex: liberty, hope, honesty,
love)
Countable – nouns that form their plural with an s
or es, that can be counted and numbered (ex:
bugs, projects, boys, girls)
Non-countable – nouns that have no plural and cannot
be counted (ex: poverty, peace, ideas,
principles)
Nouns
can be used as subjects of a sentence, direct objects, indirect objects,
objects of a preposition, and predicate nouns.
In the following sentences,
the nouns are underlined and in bold:
·
The dog under the tree had a leash around his neck.
·
My dog, Scooby, wanted freedom from his collar.
·
The playground in Northfield had a statue of General Washington
who fought for liberty.
·
Sarge’s Parlour, a small business,
sold ice cream in Storm
Lake, Iowa to many generations
of residents.
·
My brother bought a snowmobile because he wanted to
have fun during the winter.
Some words can be both a
noun and a verb.
Examples:
I had a swim
in the lake.
I swim
in the lake.
I will drive
to school.
We had a nice drive.
I watched the third act of the play.
This man can really act.
I wrote a check
at the diner.
Will you check
to see if it is right.
I have a new dress
from Target.
The doctor will dress
my wound.
She has a delightful laugh.
I laugh
all the time.
CONJUNCTIONS
Definition: A conjunction is a word or words used to join
other words, phrases, or clauses.
Coordinating conjunctions: The conjunctions are used to join words and
sentence parts for compound predicates or compound sentences. To remember the coordinating conjunctions, we
use the following acronym: FANBOYS (For,
And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So)
In the following sentences,
the coordinating conjunctions are underlined and in bold:
·
The music was loud, for
they had extra speakers.
·
The guitarists were talented, and
they played an amazing concert.
·
The drummer couldn’t keep a beat, nor
did he know the right kind of music.
·
The bass player tried to ignore the drummer, but he found it impossible.
·
I thought I could stay for the second act, or I could go and eat.
·
I liked the singers in the next act, yet I was really hungry.
·
My friend brought a sandwich, so
I ate it and stayed to the very end.
Subordinating Conjunctions: Subordinating
conjunctions connect main clauses (independent clauses) and subordinate clauses
(dependent clauses). In a complex
sentence, the role of the subordinating conjunction and the dependent clause is
to establish a time, a place, a reason, a condition, a concession, or a
comparison for the main clause. The subordinating conjunction provides the
bridge between the main clause and the dependent clause.
Below is a list of the most
common subordinating conjunctions:
after
although
as
as
if
as
long as
as
much as
as
soon as
as
though
because
before
even
even
if
even
though
if
if
only
in
order that
just
as
now
now
since
now
that
now
when
once
provided
provided
that
rather
than
since
so
that
supposing
than
that
though
unless
until
when
whenever
where
whereas
where
if
wherever
whether
which
while
who
whoever
why
In the following sentences,
the subordinating conjunctions are underlined and in bold:
·
Because I am hungry, I ordered
three pizzas.
·
Although I didn’t study, I did well
on the test.
·
We are going to visit my grandfather before he goes to the hospital.
·
I do not know if
everyone will be here for the reunion.
·
Whenever you travel north, you need
to pack a jacket.
·
After we booked our hotel, we
searched for good restaurants.
·
We will stay at the resort until
the storm passes.
·
We stayed an extra day so
that we could go fishing
again.
ADVERBS
Definition: An adverb is a word (or phrase or clause)
that modifies or describes a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. Adverbs answer the following questions: How? When? Where? To what extent? How much?
How often?
Placement: Adverbs of one word almost always come before
the word modified. Clauses and phrases
should be placed as closely as possible to the verb is modifies.
Formation: Adverbs can be formed by adding “-ly” to an
adjective. (e.g. correctly, happily, sparingly) Another way to form an adverb is to place an
adjective in the following formula: “in
a _________ manner.”
In the following sentences,
the adverbs are underlined and in bold:
·
The horse lazily
meandered through the very
dense forest.
·
Her brother playfully
teased her yesterday.
·
Tomorrow the band will carefully practice that insanely hard piece.
·
Carefully, John put a foot on the
thin ice.
·
Bill stubbornly
refused to do his homework.
·
Joan instantly
recognized the very famous
actor.
·
I secretly planned a
party for the students.
PREPOSTIONS
Definition: A preposition is a word that shows the
relationship between a noun or pronoun and other words in a sentence. Prepositions are always the first word of
prepositional phrase. The phrases can
serve either as adjectival phrases
(describing/modifying nouns) or as adverbial (describing/modifying
verbs)
The Prepositional Phrase: A prepositional phrase is made up of the
preposition at the beginning and the object of the preposition (a noun or
pronoun)
Below is a list of the most
common prepositions:
about
|
below
|
excepting
|
off
|
toward
|
above
|
beneath
|
for
|
on
|
under
|
across
|
beside(s)
|
from
|
onto
|
underneath
|
after
|
between
|
in
|
out
|
until
|
against
|
beyond
|
in front of
|
outside
|
up
|
along
|
but
|
inside
|
over
|
upon
|
among
|
by
|
in spite of
|
past
|
up to
|
around
|
concerning
|
instead of
|
regarding
|
with
|
at
|
despite
|
into
|
since
|
within
|
because of
|
down
|
like
|
through
|
without
|
before
|
during
|
near
|
throughout
|
with regard to
|
behind
|
except
|
of
|
to
|
with respect to
|
In the following sentences,
the prepositional phrases are in parentheses and the prepositions are
underlined and in bold:
·
The cup (of soup) (on the table) was cold.
·
The meeting (before lunch)
had been planned (since yesterday).
·
I threw the ball (of yarn) (down the stairs).
·
(Inside the house) (of the old lady) is a book (near the fireplace) (in the living room) that is was written
(during the Revolutionary War).
·
I put the suitcase (against
the chair) (under the big picture).
·
(Down the road) and (past the mailboxes) ran the red fox (with my lunch) (in his mouth).
·
Once (upon a time) (in a castle) (on a hill), there lived an ogre (with warts) (on his
face).
PRONOUNS
Definition: A Pronoun is a word that takes the place of a
nouns. We can substitute a pronoun for a
noun in a sentence. Pronouns are
classified in five (5) different categories. They are personal
pronouns, relative pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, indefinite pronouns, and
interrogative pronouns.
Antecedent: The antecedent is the word or words that the
pronoun is substituting.
Examples:
The
lady drank her coffee. She said it was hot.
(lady is the antecedent for her & she; coffee is the antecedent for
it)
Roger
sat on the chair, but it broke when he sat down. (Roger is the antecedent for
he; chair is the antecedent for it)
Below is a chart showing the
forms of personal pronouns
Personal Pronouns
|
|
Singular
|
|
Plural
|
Person
|
Nominative
|
Objective
|
Possessive
|
|
Nominative
|
Objective
|
Possessive
|
1st person
|
I
|
me
|
mine
|
|
We
|
us
|
ours
|
2nd person
|
You
|
you
|
yours
|
|
You
|
you
|
yours
|
3rd person
|
He,
she, it
|
him,
her, it
|
his,
hers, its
|
|
They
|
them
|
theirs
|
In the following sentences,
the personal pronouns are underlined and in bold.
·
I gave her the bottle that
used to belong to you.
·
She knew right away that it was a collector’s piece.
·
It had been used by Queen
Elizabeth in her castle.
·
They say it held the perfume that she used every day.
·
My family has had many
antiques in their collection
and loves to talk about them.
·
Do you think she will get any money for it?
Reflexive pronouns are a compound of personal pronouns with “self” or
“selves.” They are used when you refer
back to the subject of a sentence or clause.
Examples:
·
I saw myself in the mirror.
·
She made herself some lunch.
·
The bird hurt itself when it
flew into the window.
Relative pronouns introduce relative clauses (dependent clauses that relate
the clause to a noun or pronoun in the sentence). The five relative pronouns are who, whom, whose, which, that.
Examples:
·
The car that hit me was
yellow.
·
The student whose phone just
rang should answer it.
·
Jane is the girl who won the
contest.
·
Mr. Jones is a man on whom I
can rely.
Demonstrative pronouns are pronouns that point out. They are this,
that, these, and those.
Examples:
·
This is my hat.
·
I like these, not those.
·
That is a great idea.
·
How much money do you want for this?
Indefinite
pronouns are pronouns that do not
point out specifically. They point out generally. They include such words
as another, any, anybody,
anyone, anything, both, each, either, everybody, everyone, everything, many,
neither, nobody, none, no one, one, other, others, some, somebody, and someone.
Examples:
·
Does anyone have a pencil?
·
Please stand with the others.
·
No one can solve this equation.
·
Both of you should do the
dishes.
Interrogative
pronouns ask questions. Who,
whom, whose, which, and what are
interrogative pronouns.
Examples:
·
Who will give me the money?
·
With whom are you going to
movie?
·
Whose books are these?
·
What will you bring to the
dinner?
