Grammar Voyage
1. Parts of speech: the 8 kinds
of words
2. Parts of the sentence: the
parts of ideas
3. Phrases: little groups of
words
4. Clauses: making simple or
complicated ideas with
subjects and predicates
Grammar Voyage: Part 1
1. The names of the eight
kinds of words:
noun
adj
prep
verb
Pron
.
conj
adv
interj
1. NOUNS
• Nouns name things
• Proper nouns name specific things, and
are capitalized (like Madagascar).
• Common nouns name general things,
and are not capitalized (like horizon).
• A noun naming one thing is singular (like
tide).
• A noun naming more than one thing is
plural (like shores).
2. PRONOUN
• The word pronoun means “for the noun.”
• Pronouns are short words that replace the
noun.
• SUBJECT pronouns: I you he she it
we you they
• OBJECT pronouns: me you him her it us
you them
• We use demonstrative pronouns to
demonstrate.
this that these those
This is a good harbor.
• We use possessive pronouns to show
possession.
my you his her its our their
The Nostromo is my boat.
• We use interrogative pronouns to interrogate.
who whose whom which what
Who stowed the grub today?
It’s versus its
• The word its is a possessive pronoun; it’s
is a contraction of it is.
The bee found its hive; it’s a good thing,
too.
Antecedents
• Ante – before, cede – go
• The antecedent is the noun that goes
(cede) before (ante) the pronoun; it is the
noun the pronoun replaces.
First Jose laughed, then he smiled.
3. ADJECTIVES
• With adjectives, we can use one noun to
refer to hundreds of different things.
• Adjectives let us modify nouns.
• To modify a thing is to adjust it or to
change it.
raging sea, stormy sea, rolling sea,
profound sea, silent sea, undulating
sea, quiet sea, serene sea, placid sea
• You ADD the adjective to the noun and it
modifies the idea of the noun!
• Adjectives are always with nouns or
pronouns.
• Anything an adjective modifies is by
definition a noun or pronoun.
• With adjectives, you don’t have to know
thousands of different nouns for all the
kinds of seas. You just learn sea, and the
modify with adjectives.
• Adjectives also modify pronouns:
She is adventurous.
He is sunburned.
It is stormy.
It is vast.
Paolo stood stolid on the bridge of the
Hampstead, watching the great seas rising
ahead. The storm had lasted three long
days, and Zanzibar’s safe harbor seemed
far away. His mind filled with adjectives
that described the storm, the wind, the
waves…
crashing, monstrous, raging, furious, roaring, dark,
chaotic, grotesque, churning, rising,
mountainous, black, tempestuous, howling,
tedious, dangerous
ARTICLES
• The three adjectives the, a, and an are
called the articles.
the freighter
a freighter
an old freighter
• The adjective the is called the definite
article, and adjectives a and an are called
indefinite articles.
These are great names that really make
sense. If I say that
I want to catch a freighter to Lisbon
Then it could be any freighter; I’m not being
definite. I’m being indefinite. But if I say
I want to catch the freighter to Lisbon
Then that is a definite, specific freighter.
They are very logical names.
Every one of our ideas, every
sentence, has two sides:
what it’s about
what it’s about
what we’re saying about it
what we’re saying
The Maggie Marshall puffed up the river.
VERB
• When we say something about a noun or
pronoun, we always use a special kind of
word called a verb.
• Every sentence has a verb!
• The verb is the only part of speech that
can be found in every single sentence.
VERB
• The verb is about the noun or pronoun, and it
says that the noun or pronoun DOES something
or IS something.
DOES,
or
IS.
Ahab struck the mast.
Ahab was silent.
ACTION VERBS
• Most verbs are action verbs.
• They show the noun or pronoun doing
something.
The oil tanker approached the pier.
She sailed toward the marina.
The captain perplexed the crew.
Mona secured the line to the cleat.
The quiet Ganges flowed past Kanpur.
Do you see why these are called action verbs?
LINKING VERBS
• A linking verb says the subject IS
something.
• With a linking verb, the subject isn’t doing
something to something else. Now the
subject IS the other thing.
If we say, “John Silver is a pirate” then John
Silver and pirate are the same person!
That is not like John Silver saw a pirate.
In math, we say that 2 + 2 = 4. This is an
equation, since each side of the equals
sign equals the other side.
A linking verb is like an equation.
John is a pirate.
John = pirate.
• Some linking verbs sound like action verbs:
The harbor looks beautiful.
You smell good.
• Forms of be linking verbs: be, am, is, are,
was, were, been, being
• Linking verbs that express condition:
appear, become, feel, grow, look, remain,
seem, smell, sound, taste
VERB TENSE
• Verbs do more than describe action. They
also tell when the action took place—now
(present tense), before (past tense), or in
the future (future tense).
• There are six verb tenses: three regular
tenses and three perfect tenses that use
to have as a helping verb.
VERB TENSES
Present: Sally hoists the sail.
Past: Sally hoisted the sail.
Future: Sally will hoist the sail.
Present perfect: Sally has hoisted the sail.
Past perfect: Sally had hoisted the sail.
Future perfect: Sally will have hoisted the
sail.
VERB AGREEMENT
• Verbs must reflect the nouns’ number: if
the noun is singular, the verb must be
singular too.
The boat is at anchor in the cove.
The boats are at anchor in the cove.
The boat was at anchor in the cove.
The boats were at anchor in the cove.
Nouns often make their plurals by adding an s, but
verbs don’t.
Each sentence must be either about one thing or
about more than one thing, and if the noun is
singular but the verb is plural, then we can not
tell! The number must be manifest.
The boats is at anchor.
The boat are at anchor.
In these sentences, we cannot tell whether the
person saw a boat or some boats.
• The number agreement only functions in
some tense situations. If we were
describing a future event, then the verb
would not change form, but would use the
same form for both singular and plural!
The boat will be at anchor in the cove.
The boats will be at anchor in the cove.