Classifying Grammar
Chapter One – Nouns and Pronouns
Term
Definition
Noun
Persons, places, things, ideas
Proper Noun
Names a particular person,
place, thing or idea and is
capitalized
Names any one of a group of
persons, places, things or ideas
Common Noun
Concrete Noun
Abstract Noun
Compound Noun
Collective Noun
Names a person, place, or thing
that can be perceived by one or
more of the senses (sight, sound,
taste, touch and smell)
Names an idea, feeling, quality
or a characteristic
Consists of two or more words
used together as a single noun.
They can be written as one
word, separate words or
hyphenated
A word that names a group
Example
How do I remember?
Persons – Sharon, jogger
Places – Iowa, home
Things – toothpick, pony
Ideas – peace, truth
Ronald Reagan, Buffalo,
Eiffel Tower, Monday,
Christmas
President, city, building, day,
holiday
A noun NAMES a person, place,
thing or idea
Cloud, poison ivy, thunder,
Sarah, cookies
Uses the FIVE SENSES
Freedom, well-being, beauty,
Christianity
Firefighter, prime minister,
sister-in-law
Something you FEEL or
PERCEIVE
TWO or more WORDS
TOGETHER to make a noun
Audience, flock, herd, bath,
cluster
NAMES a GROUP (of animals,
people, things )
Is CAPITALIZED
Generally NOT capitalized
Pronoun
A word that is used in place of
one or more nouns or pronouns
The word the pronoun stands for
or refers to
He, several, they
Used IN PLACE of a noun
What the pronoun REFERS TO
Personal Pronoun
Refers to the one speaking (first
person), the one spoken to
(second person) or the one
spoken about (third person)
Reflexive Pronoun
Refers to the subject of a
sentence and functions as a
complement or as an object of
preposition
The tour guide showed the
students where they could
eat lunch
1st – I, me, my, mine, we, us,
ours
2nd – you, your, yours
3rd – he, him, his, she, her,
hers, it, its, they, them, their,
theirs
1st person – myself, ourselves
2nd – yourself, yourselves
3rd – himself, herself, itself,
themselves
Intensive Pronoun
Emphasizes its antecedent and
has no grammatical function
Ex – Elena treated herself to
a snack
Ex - Elena herself bought a
snack
Demonstrative Pronoun
Is used to point out a specific
person, place, thing or idea
Antecedent
Interrogative Pronoun
Introduces a question
This, that, these, those
Ex – That is John’s favorite
restaurant in Buffalo
Who, whom, which, what,
whose
Ex – What is your dog’s
name?
It’s like POINT OF VIEW in
writing
Are the -SELF forms of
pronouns; REFLECT BACK to
the antecedent
INTENSIFY the action of the
antecedent. Are used mainly to
EMPHASIZE WHO completed
the action.
It TAKES THE PLACE of
nouns or pronouns
Are used when you want to
ASK A QUESTION
Relative Pronoun
Introduces a subordinate clause;
stands in place of a noun.
Compare:
(1) This is a house. Jack built
this house.
Indefinite Pronoun
(2) This is the house that Jack
built. (relative pronoun that –
stands in place of house)
Refers to one or more persons,
places, ideas or things that may
or may not be specifically
named;
That, which, who, whom,
whose
RELATE one thing to another
Ex – The ship that you saw
sailing to Greece
All, another, any, anybody,
anyone, anything, both, each,
either, everyone, everything,
few, many, more, most, much,
neither, nobody, none, no
one, nothing, one, other,
several, some, somebody,
something, such
Ex – is anyone home?
It is VAGUE and "NOT
DEFINITE"
Chapter One – Adjectives and Articles
Term
Adjective
Demonstrative Adjectives
Proper Adjective
Article
Indefinite Article
Definite Article
Definition
A word that is used to modify
(to describe or make more
definite) a noun or pronoun
When this, that, these and those
modify (describe) nouns or
pronouns
Adjectives formed from proper
nouns
The most frequently used
adjectives; is a word that
combines with a noun to
indicate the type of reference
being made by the noun
Refers to any member of a
general group; indicates that its
noun is not a particular one (or
ones) identifiable to the listener
Example
How do I remember?
What kind? – gray skies
Which one? – next day
How many – five balls
Did Jackie draw this picture
or that one?
It tells WHAT KIND, WHICH
ONE or HOW MANY
Proper noun – Texas
Proper Adj – Texas coast
A, An, and the
is the NAME of a SPECIFIC
person, place, or thing
REFERENCE to something
DESCRIBES nouns or pronouns
Ex – I won a fish at the fair
A and an
Refers to ANY
Ex – A girl won
*Note – “A” is used before
words that begin with a
consonant sound; “an” is
used before words beginning
with a vowel sound
The
Refers to something in
particular; indicates that its noun
is a particular one (or ones)
Ex – The girl won
identifiable to the listener
Refers to something DEFINITE
or IDENTIFIABLE
Chapter One – Verbs
Term
Verb
Transitive Verb
Object
Definition
A word that is used to express
action or state of being
A verb that expresses an action
directed toward a person, place
or thing. The action of the
transitive verb passes from the
doer – the subject – to the
receiver of the action.
Carries the verb action across to
the noun
Words that receive the action of
the transitive verb
Example
Ran, jump, happy
EX - When will Gail ring the
bell? (the action of the verb
ring is directed toward the
object bell)
How do I remember?
Ask yourself, "Is this something
that a person or thing can DO?"
Action TOWARDS a noun
ACTION PASSES to the
receiver of the action
RECEIVES the ACTION
Ex – Tell the truth (the action
of the verb tell is directed
toward the object truth)
Ex – When will Gail ring the
bell (the action of the verb
ring is directed toward the
object bell)
Ex – Tell the truth (the
action of the verb tell is
directed toward the object
truth)
* Note – these verbs don't
contain an i (lay / set).
It is WHAT the VERB is being
DONE TO
Intransitive Verb
A verb that expresses action (or
tells something about the
subject) without the action
passing to a receiver or object
Ex - Last Saturday we stayed
inside (the verb stayed does
not pass the action to the
object)
NO RECEIVER of the action
* Note – these verbs contain the
vowel i (lie / sit).
The prefix trans- literally means Ex – Marcie studied very late
(the verb studied does not
across. (Think about the words
pass the action to the object)
transport [to carry across] and
transcontinental [across the
continent] as examples.)
Action Verb
The prefix in means not. When
you combine the two prefixes–
intrans–they literally mean not
across.
A verb that expresses either
physical or mental action. Can
be transitive or intransitive
Ex - The audience cheered
the lead actors (transitive)
Ex – The audience cheered
(intransitive)
PHYSICAL or MENTAL
ACTION
Linking Verbs
A verb that connects the subject
to a word or word group that
identifies or describes the
subject. The most commonly
used linking verbs are forms of
the verb be
Be, being, am, is, are, was,
were, shall be, will be, has
been, have been, had been,
shall have been, will have
been, should be, would be,
can be, could be, should have
been, would have been, could
have been
CONNECTS the subject to a
word that DESCRIBES the
subject
Appear, become, feel, grow,
look, remain, seem, smell,
sound, stay, taste, turn
Verb Phrases
Consists of at least one main
verb and one or more helping
verbs
Ex – the answer is “three”
(verb is links answer and
“three”)
Ex – might have remained
It PROVIDES INFORMATION
about the subject of the sentence.
Helping Verb (or Auxiliary
Verb)
Helps the main verb express
action or state of being
Uses all forms of be- Be,
being, am, is, are, was, were,
shall be, will be, has been,
have been, had been, shall
have been, will have been,
should be, would be, can be,
could be, should have been,
would have been, could have
been
Can, could, did, do, does,
had, has, have, may, might,
must, shall, should, will,
would
Ex – is leaving
HELPS the VERB
Chapter One – Adverbs
Term
Definition
Adverb
Modifies (describes) a verb, an
adjective or another adverb. It
makes the meaning of the verb,
adjective or adverb clearer.
Conjunctive Adverb
An adverb used as a connecting
word between independent and
dependent clauses in a
compound sentence
Relative Adverb
They join words, phrases, or
clauses together to clarify what
the writer is saying. Their
presence provides smooth
transitions from one idea to
another.
Is often used to introduce
adjectives clauses
Example
How do I remember?
Where? – we ran there
When? – He arrived early
How? – she quickly agreed
To what extent? – Fill the
tank completely
Ex – we tried to be at the
stadium by 6:30P.M.;
however, we arrived at the
wrong time
Tells WHERE, WHEN, HOW,
or TO WHAT EXTENT (how
long or how much)
Where, when, and why
WHERE, WHEN and WHY
Ex – Uncle Bruce told us
about a time when he drove
across the country
to CONNECT ideas
Chapter One – Prepositions
Term
Preposition
Definition
A word that shows the
relationship of a noun or
pronoun to another word
A preposition usually indicates
the temporal, spatial or logical
relationship of its object to the
rest of the sentence as in the
following examples:
The book is on the table.
The book is beneath the table.
The book is leaning against the
table.
The book is beside the table.
She held the book over the table.
She read the book during class.
In each of the preceding
sentences, a preposition locates
the noun "book" in space or in
time.
Example
How do I remember?
Commonly used prepositions: SHOWS RELATIONSHIP
between words
Aboard, about, above, across,
after, against, along, amid,
INDICATE LOCATION
among, around, as, at,
before, behind, below,
* Note – a preposition usually
beneath, beside(s), between,
comes BEFORE a noun
beyond, but (meaning
except), by, concerning,
down, during, except, for,
from, in, inside, into, like,
near, of, off, on, onto, out,
outside, over, past, since,
through, throughout, till, to,
toward, under, underneath,
until, up, upon, with, within,
without
Object of Preposition
The noun or pronoun that a
preposition relates another word
to
Prepositions often begin
prepositional phrases. To
complete the phrase, the
preposition usually teams up
with a noun, pronoun, or the
object of the preposition
Compound Prepositions
Prepositions that consist of two
or more words
Ex - From the beginning of
the storm, Dorothy was sure
she would make it home.
o
You can find the object of the
preposition by asking the
question WHAT? about the
preposition
BEGINNING is the
object of the
preposition FROM,
and STORM is the
object of the
preposition OF.
According to, as of, aside
TWO OR MORE
from, because of, by means
PREPOSITIONS TOGETHER
of, in addition to, in front of,
in place of, in spite of, instead
of, next to, on account of, out
of, prior to
Ex – Everyone agreed, aside
from Marilyn
Prepositional Phrase
The preposition, its object and
any modifiers of the object
ALWAYS has a noun or a
pronoun as an object
Formula to remember:
A prepositional phrase will
function as an adjective or
adverb. As an adjective, the
prepositional phrase will answer
the question Which one? As an
adverb, a prepositional phrase
will answer questions such as
How? When? or Where?
PREPOSITION
+ NOUN,
Ex - At home
(At = preposition; home =
noun)
PRONOUN
, GERUND, OR
CLAUSE
OR
PREPOSITION
+ MODIFIER(S)
+ NOUN, PRONOUN, GERUND,
Ex - In the weedy,
overgrown garden
OR CLAUSE
(In = preposition; the, weedy,
overgrown = modifiers;
garden = noun)
Chapter One – Conjunctions and the Interjection
Term
Conjunction
Coordinating Conjunction
Correlative Conjunctions
Interjection
Definition
Example
A word that joins words or word
groups that are part of a
sentence
Joins words or word groups that
are used in the same way (words
that are of equal rank)
The common conjunctions-and, but, for, or, nor, yet, and
soAnd, but, or, nor, for, yet, so
Pairs of conjunctions that join
words or word groups that are
used the same way
Both…and, either…or,
whether…or, not only…but
also, neither…nor
It links balanced words, phrases,
and clauses. The elements
connected by correlative
conjunctions are usually
parallel--that is, similar in length
and grammatical form
Is a word that expresses
emotion. It has no grammatical
relation to the rest of the
sentence
Ex – Both Jimmy and Justin
were outstanding athletes
Ex – streets and sidewalks
(streets and sidewalks are of
“equal rank”)
Ah, aha, boy-oh-boy, hey,
hurrah, oh, oops, ouch, uhoh, well, whew, whoa, wow,
yahoo, yikes, yippee
Ex – Hey! Be careful.
How do I remember?
A JOINER or CONNECTOR
(conjoins)
F – or
A – nd
N – or
B – ut
O–r
Y – et
S–o
PAIRS of WORDS that LINK
WORDS TOGETHER
Usually has EXCLAMATION
MARK