NOUNS – name persons, places, things, or ideas
COMMON (boy, school, toy, fame)
PROPER (Tom, Chocksett, Nintendo)
PRONOUNS:
 take the place of nouns
 vary in gender, number, & person
POSSESSIVES:
 show ownership
 singular (ONE owner): Jack’s books got wet.
 plural (MULTIPLE owners): The books’ bindings are
ruined.
General Nouns: name a group of related items (ex.: tree)
Specific Nouns: name a single item of a group (ex.: oak)
Concrete Nouns: name a tangible person, place, thing (ex.: ticket,
window)
Abstract Nouns: name an intangible idea (ex.: insecurity, fear)
COLLECTIVE NOUNS refer to a group of people, things, or ideas
a collective noun takes a SINGULAR verb when talking about the
group as a whole: The team is ready to warm up.
a collective noun takes a PLURAL verb when talking about different
parts of the group: Some of the team members are doing jumping
jacks.
Forming Possessive Nouns:
To form possessive of:
Add Examples
a singular noun
's
girl's aunt
James's smile
(or James’ smile)
a plural noun ending in s
'
vases' colors
boys' hats
a plural noun not ending in s
's
women's creations
moose's hoofs
Gerund = a noun formed by a verb. If you want to use an action word in a
place that requires a noun, you can usually use a verb with an -ing ending.
Fishing is fun.
Hiking is difficult.
That is ballet dancing.
Fishing, hiking, and dancing look like verbs, but they are nouns called
GERUNDS (when a noun looks like a verb with –ing).
Types of Sentences (by type)
Sentences may be classified according to purpose
1.
2.
3.
4.
Declarative sentences make a statement (.)
Interrogative sentences ask a question (?)
Imperative sentences make a command or request (.!)
Exclamatory sentences show strong emotion (!)
Types of Sentences (by structure)
Sentences may be classified according to structure
1. Simple sentence = one independent clause without
transitional words or dependent clauses
(ex.) Wendy has a red wagon.
2. Compound sentence = 2 or more simple sentences joined by
a coordinating conjuction
(ex.) The train chugged down the track and then it pulled to a stop at the station.
3. Complex sentence = simple sentence + dependent clause
(ex.) Andre slammed the door shut before running out to play.
4. Compound-Complex sentence = compound sentence (2
simple sentences) + dependent clause
(ex.) When the scene was over, the actor got out of the car and he returned to the
trailer.
VERBS:
express time
show an action, a condition, or the fact that something exists
Types:
action: indicates action of a person or thing
run, ski, fly, dance…
linking: connects the subject of a sentence with a noun or
pronoun that renames or describes the subject
Always linking verbs: Forms of be: am, is, are, was, were, has been, are being, might
have been, etc., and become, and seem
Can be linking verbs: appear, feel, grow, look, prove, remain, smell, sound, taste, and
turn
helping: can be added to another verb to make a single verb
phrase
may, might, must, be, being, been, am, are, is was, were, do does, did, should, could,
would, have, had, has, will, can, shall
Helping + Action = He can run very quickly.
Helping + Linking = He can become very tired.
A verb has 4 PRINCIPAL PARTS:
(ex.) regular
(ex.)
irregular
present
present participle
going
past
past participle
gone
walk
am walking
go
am
walked
have walked
went
have
A VERB TENSE tells whether the time of an action or condition is
in the past, present, or future
6 TENSES:
present - shows actions that are happening now
past - shows actions that have already happened
future - shows actions that will happen
present perfect - shows actions that begin in the past and
continue into the present EX.: I have seen that movie many
times.
[present perfect progressive (continuous) EX.: I have
been speaking all night.]
past perfect - shows a past action or condition that ended
before another past action EX.: I had never seen the beach
before I moved to the coast.
future perfect - shows a future action or condition that will
have ended before another begins; it refers to the past in the
future! EX.: I will have forgotten what I studied by then.
ACTION verbs can be
transitive: needs a direct object
I hit the ball. I raised the flag.
intransitive: doesn’t take a direct object
I smiled at Sam. I rose from the chair.
ADJECTIVES
- describe (or modify) nouns & pronouns
- may precede the noun: a happy camper
- may follow a linking verb: she was hungry
the cake smells delicious
- answers one of the following questions:
o what kind? The enormous watermelon was very juicy.
o how many? The six children played with many different toys.
o which one? These green apples make that boy sick.
Degrees of Adjectives:
o comparative – compare two nouns
 add –er (taller, quicker)
 add more/less (more confusing)
o superlative – compare three or more nouns
 add –est (tallest, quickest)
 add most/least (most confusing)
Proper Adjectives are formed from proper nouns: Canadian,
Australian…
Collective Adjectives:
When the definite article, the, is combined with an
adjective describing a class or group of people, the resulting phrase can act as a noun: the
poor, the rich, the oppressed, the homeless…
Adjective Clause - When a group of words containing a subject and verb acts as
an adjective: My sister, who is older than I am, is an engineer.
Adjective Phrase - When an adjective clause is stripped of its subject and verb:
He is the one (who is) keeping my family in the poorhouse.
ADVERBS – modify verbs, adjectives, & other adverbs
When modifying VERBS, adverbs answer these questions:
- how? -- carefully
- where? -- there
- when? – yesterday
When modifying ADJECTIVES & ADVERBS, adverbs
answer the question:
- to what extent? – really, very
EX: I drove my very ugly car really carefully.
- very modifies the adjective ugly
- really modifies the adverb carefully
- carefully modifies the verb drove
Degrees of Adverbs:
- comparative – compares how two things were done
add –er (faster, sooner)
add more/less (more quickly)
- superlative – compares how three or more things were
done
add –est (fastest, soonest)
add most/least (most quickly)
Adverbial Clause - a group of words that describes an
action and contains a subject & verb:
(ex) When this class if over, we’re going to the movies.
Adverbial Phrase – when an adverbial clause is stripped of
its subject & verb
(ex) She ran next door.
Both Adverbial Clauses & Phrases describe:
how an action was done
when an action was done
where an action was done
why an action was done
Adverbs often function as intensifiers, which can
emphasize: (ex.)He literally wrecked his mother's car.
amplify: (ex.)The teacher completely rejected her proposal.
downtone: (ex.)Matt kind of likes this college.
Prepositions: show the relationship of one noun to another noun
in a sentence (they can indicate position)
(ex.) Teddy sat behind the desk.
Teddy sat on the desk.
Teddy refused to sit in the desk.
- The noun following the preposition is called the object of the
preposition
- Words that modify the object of the preposition may come
between the preposition and the object
- Together, the preposition + the object of the preposition +
modifiers of the object = prepositional phrase
(ex.) Teddy refused to sit in the dirty, old, smelly desk!