Week 19
Notes for grammar Week 20
1. Focus of Module 1: Functions of words
2. Nouns: name a person, place, or thing; act as subjects of verbs
o How to find the subject of a verb:
 1. find the verb
 2. ask, “Who or what is doing this action?” (the answer is
the subject)
3. Pronouns: take the place of nouns (e.g. he, their, our, who, which, that,
whose, you)
4. Verbs:
o show action
o show “state of being” (those that establish a fact or condition)
Most common: is, am, are, was, were, be, being, been
o verb phrases combine
 an action verb + state of being verb (e.g. are running)
 a helping verb may be added (e.g. shall be arriving) Most
common: has, have, had, do, does, did, can, could, may,
might, ought, shall, will
5. Adverbs: describe verbs (sometimes also adjectives & other adverbs) –
o often “-ly” words; can be placed anywhere in the sentence;
o they answer when, why, how, where
 why: therefore
 when: often, never
 how: only, slowly, briefly
 where: everywhere
6. Adjectives: describe nouns (usually come before the noun);
o answer which one, what kind, how many
o Articles are also adjectives: a, an, the
o Sometimes an adjective follows the noun: Brenda is
productive. (productive is the adjective)
o Cumulative adjectives: These adjectives do not separately
modify the noun: “exquisite custom houseboat”, so do NOT use
commas to separate them.
o Coordinate adjectives: These DO separately modify the noun:
“heavy, bulky box”, so commas are necessary.
o Not sure? Test: if you can insert the word “and” between
the adjectives, and the phrase makes sense, use commas.
If you cannot logically use “and” between adjectives, do
not use commas.
7. Degrees of comparison with adjectives
o comparing two things? Use the comparative form of the
adjective “-er” “less” or “more”
o comparing more than two things? Use the superlative form of
the adjective: “-est” “least” or “most”
o Use less/least & more/most when the adjective has three or more
syllables*
 multiple-syllable adjective: more superstitious
 single-syllable adjective: faster
*There are exceptions to this rule: two-syllable adjectives vary
8. Prepositional phrases: begin with a preposition & end with a
noun (“over the hill”)
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English Prepositions List
There are about 150 prepositions in English. Yet this is a very small number
when you think of the thousands of other words (nouns, verbs etc).
Prepositions are important words. We use individual prepositions more
frequently than other individual words. In fact, the
prepositions of, to and in are among the ten most frequent words in English.
Here is a short list of 70 of the more common one-word prepositions. Many of
these prepositions have more than one meaning. Please refer to a dictionary
for precise meaning and usage.
aboard
 besides
 into
 than
about
 between
 like
 through
above
 beyond
 minus
 to
across
 but
 near
 toward
after
 by
 of
 towards
against
 concerning
 off
 under
along
 considering
 on
 underneath
amid
 despite
 onto
 unlike
among
 down
 opposite
 until
anti
 during
 outside
 up
around
 except
 over
 upon
as
 excepting
 past
 versus
at
 excluding
 per
 via
before
 following
 plus
 with
behind
 for
 regarding
 within
below
 from
 round
 without
beneath
 in
 save
beside
 inside
 since
English 12 Week 19 Vocabulary & Grammar
PAN (all, completely, whole, general)
EXTRA (outside, beyond the ordinary)
I labeled my aunt Lucy an extrovert because she hugged anyone who
let her. As a child, I discovered that her backyard was the panacea for any
ailing soul; it blocked out extraneous noise and let a person float in an
extramundane, unidentifiable heaven. I returned to her backyard recently
when I grew weary of the pandemonium of daily life in the big city. Her
yard is still a panoply of flowers where one can extrapolate truths about
life. Now that I am grown and Lucy is gone, I want to honor her by writing a
panegyric that praises her generosity and love.
English 11 Week 20 Vocabulary & Grammar
ANN/ENN = year
EV = age or lifetime
I am coeval with my best friend Kelly. I’ll bet no other friends in this
millennium are closer than we. My style in 1976 would be considered
superannuated now: red-and-white checked bell-bottoms were my favorite
pants! The primeval forest of the creek on Elm Street was our playground.
Climbing the mulberry trees each spring was a perennial activity for us. I
would even bet my annuity that Kelly and I will be friends when we’re old
and gray: I’d even share the payments with her.
English 9 Week 20 Vocabulary & Grammar
HOSP/HOST = host, guest
AM/IM = love
Louie’s amicable personality and gorgeous blue eyes
held my heart hostage; I was enamored! I could not
understand how he could be a paramour of the inimical
Mrs. Gilbert whose behavior made me think of Cruella
DeVille. Mrs. Gilbert runs an inhospitable hostel in
France so she can harass the college kids traveling in
Europe. Her hostel is near the hospice where her
mysteriously terminally ill husband will spend his last
days…maybe Louie should find out WHY Mr. Gilbert is in
a hospice!