Different words do different
jobs in a sentence.
The
word class
book
Sue Palmer
Different words do different
jobs in a sentence.
pronoun
verb
conjunction
These are called
word classes.
general
names
particular
names
Nouns 1
a noun is
the name of
a person,
place, animal
or thing
just one
more
than one
singular
plural
girl
girls
common
noun
proper
noun
girl
Emma
city
Belfast
city
cities
dog
Fido
fox
foxes
day
Monday
man
men
girl
e.g.
dog
Index
schoolgirl, teenager, toddler…
terrier, poodle, puppy…
Noun 2
singular noun
for a plural group
Nouns 2
collective
nouns
A group of words built
round a noun is
called a noun phrase.
It acts like a noun
in a sentence.
Index
Nouns
can be…
things you can’t
see, hear, touch, smell
abstract
nouns
The small boy with grubby
knees was laughing.
We had an interesting
discussion about life.
Noun phrases can
provide detail and clarity.
They can come
before the noun…
e.g. The huge
fluffy monster
Adjectives
Adjectives
tell you
more about
a noun.
They can be…
comparative or superlative.
taller
more enormous
e.g. The monster
was huge and
fluffy.
They can suggest degree…
tallest
most enormous
e.g. tall
Index
or after it…
rather tall
lanky, towering,
statuesque…
Pronouns
Singular
First
person
Second
person
I
you
he/she/it
me
you
him/her/it
my
your
his/hers/its
mine
yours
his/hers/its
myself
yourself
A
pronoun
stands in
place of
a noun
Third
person
Third person
singular has gender:
masculine
feminine
neuter
himself/herself
/itself
Any word that stands in for a noun
(or noun phrase) is a pronoun, e.g.
this, that, those, one
Index
Plural
First
person
Second
person
Third
person
we
you
they
us
you
them
our
your
their
ours
yours
theirs
ourselves yourselves themselves
Pronouns must be consistent
e.g. don’t switch between
3rd and 1st person.
past
tense
e.g. ate
was eating
Verb 1
The verb is
the word that tells
you what’s
happening in a
sentence
has eaten
used to eat
e.g. will eat
is going
to eat
present tense
had eaten
e.g. eats is eating
e.g. eat
Index
future
Where more than one
word is needed it’s
called a verb chain.
gobble, nibble, devour…
Verb 2
imperative
e.g. Stop!
Mix the flour…
Verb 2
Verbs can
be…
negative
e.g. is not…
cannot… don’t…
interrogative
conditional
e.g. may be…
might have…
could be…
active or passive
The monster
ate the pie.
e.g. What is she doing?
May I have a drink?
See also The Complex
Sentence Book.
Index
The pie
was eaten
by the
monster.
Adverbs
how?
Adverbs fill in
background
detail about
what happens.
e.g. gently
sadly
happily
comparative
superlative
more
happily
most
happily
degree
quite happily
extremely happily
Index
where?
e.g.
outside
here
there
when?
e.g.
now then
afterwards
yesterday
inside
everywhere
Adverbs can move about
The sentence.
(See The Sentence Book)
Vary the position of adverbs to
achieve the best rhythm and
emphasis for your sentence.
in the garden
Prepositions
Prepositions
come at the
beginning of
a phrase.
up the stairs
with big teeth
round the
corner
over the rainbow
over
on his best
behaviour
after lunch
through the
years
under the arches
The phrases
sometimes act like adjectives
adjectives… and sometimes like adverbs
adverbs.
The dog was barking
in the garden.
The dog in the garden
was barking.
Index
Vary the position of adverbial
phrases to change the rhythm
and emphasis of the sentence.
time links
Conjunctions
causal links
when
while
whenever
before
until
after
Conjunctions
make links
between
clauses.
as
since
because
in order that
so that
conditional
links
although
if unless
as long as
and
or
but
so
place links
where
wherever
The ringed conjunctions are coordinating conjunctions (compound sentences).
The others are subordinating conjunctions (complex sentences). See Complex
Sentence Book.
When the cat sleeps, the mice come out to play.
e.g. The cat sleeps until the mice come out to play.
The mice come out to play because the cat sleeps.
Index
Determiners
the monster
any monster
a monster
Determiners
home you in
on a noun.
*my monster
all monsters
some monsters
*Like your, his, her, its, our, their, the word my is half-way between a
pronoun and a determiner. Best to call it a pronoun in the early stages.
Index
Skeleton Poster Books
for GRAMMAR
The End
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