Grammar and
Composition Review
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Noun
Pronoun
Verb
Adjectives
Adverbs
Prepositions
Conjunctions
Interjections
8 Parts of Speech
A noun is the name of a person, place,
thing, or idea.
 A proper noun, which names a specific
person, place, or thing (Carlos, Queen
Marguerite, Middle East, Jerusalem,
Malaysia, Presbyterianism, God, Spanish,
Buddhism, the Republican Party), is
almost always capitalized.
 Common nouns name everything else,
things that usually are not capitalized.
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Noun
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A pronoun can replace a noun or another
pronoun
Pronouns should:
◦ Agree in number
 If the pronoun takes the place of a singular noun, you
have to use a singular pronoun.
 Ex:If a student parks a car on campus, he or she has to
buy a parking sticker. (Not they)
◦ Agree in person
 If you are writing in the "first person" ( I), don't confuse
your reader by switching to the "second person" ( you) or
"third person" (he, she, they, it, etc.). Similarly, if you are
using the "second person," don't switch to "first" or
"third.“
 Ex: When a person comes to class, he or she should have
his or her homework ready. (Not you)
Pronoun
◦ Refer clearly to a noun
 Don't be vague or ambiguous.
 Ex: If you put this sheet in your notebook, you can
refer to it. (What does "it" refer to, the sheet or your
notebook?)
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Pronouns can be used as 3 different cases:
◦ Subjective: pronouns used as subject.
◦ Objective: pronouns used as objects of verbs or
prepositions.
◦ Possessive: pronouns which express ownership.
Pronoun (cont.)
Pronouns as
Subjects
Pronouns as
Objects
Pronouns that
shows Possession
I
Me
My (mine)
You
You
Your (yours)
He, she, it
Him, her, it
His, her (hers), it
(its)
We
Us
Our (ours)
They
Them
Their (theirs)
Who
Whom
Whose
Pronoun (cont.)
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Verbs carry the idea of being or action in the
sentence.
There are six tenses of verbs.
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Simple Present: They walk
Present Perfect: They have walked
Simple Past: They walked
Past Perfect: They had walked
Future: They will walk
Future Perfect: They will have walked
Verbs can be written in active or passive
voice.
Verb
A gerund is a verbal that ends in -ing and
functions as a noun.
 Many English sentences contain a verb
phrase. The verb that carries the main
meaning is the main verb. The other
words in the verb phrase are the helping
verbs.
 There are four categories of helping
verbs.
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Verbs (cont.)
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Modals
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Forms of do
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Forms of have plus the past participle
◦ There are nine modal verbs: can, could, may, might,
must, shall, should, will, and would.
◦ After a modal verb, use the base form of the verb.
◦ Ex: The system must meet all applicable codes.
◦ Do, does, or did
◦ Ex: Do we need to include the figures for the recovery
rate?
◦ To form one of the perfect tenses (past, present, or
future), use a form of have as the helping verb plus the
past participle of the verb (-ed)
 Past Perfect: had written
 Present Perfect: have written
 Future Perfect: will have written
Verbs (cont.)
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Forms of be
◦ To describe an action in progress, use a form of
be (be, am, is, are, was, were, being, been) as
the helping verb and the present participle (the
–ing form of the verb)
 Ex: We are testing the new graphics tablet.
Verbs (cont.)
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Adjectives modify nouns. To modify means to
change in some way.
◦ 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.
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Adjectives usually answer one of a few
different questions: "What kind?" or "Which?"
or "How many?”
◦ For example: "The tall girl is riding a new bike."
Tall tells us which girl we're talking about. New tells
us what kind of bike we're talking about.
Adjectives
Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and
other adverbs.
 The most common question that adverbs
answer is how. They can also answer the
questions when, where, and why.
 She sang beautifully." Beautifully is an
adverb that modifies sang. It tells us how
she sang.
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Adverbs
That woman is extremely nice." Nice is an
adjective that modifies the noun woman.
Extremely is an adverb that modifies nice;
it tells us how nice she is. How nice is
she? She's extremely nice.
 "It was a terribly hot afternoon." Hot is an
adjective that modifies the noun
afternoon. Terribly is an adverb that
modifies the adjective hot. How hot is it?
Terribly hot.
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Adverbs (cont.)
A preposition describes a relationship
between other words in a sentence.
 Prepositions are nearly always combined
with other words in structures called
prepositional phrases
 A prepositional phrase consists of a
preposition, a noun or pronoun that
serves as the object of the preposition,
and, more often than not, an adjective or
two that modifies the object.
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Prepositions
A conjunction is a joiner, a word that
connects(conjoins) parts of a sentence.
 Conjunctions: and, but, or, yet, for, nor,
so
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Conjunction
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Interjections are words or phrases used to
exclaim or protest or command.
Wow!
Oh!
Hey!
You There!
Interjection