Focus On: Grammar
1.
Circle the nouns in the following list of words.
table sit
beautiful
2.
it
he
playground
Richard
elephant
airplane
sailboat
find
Underline the verbs in these sentences.
(a) Callie threw the ball to the outfield.
(b) A little mouse crept into her room last night.
(c) Five aliens landed in my backyard and said to me, “Hello, strange-looking mass of cellular
matter.”
(d) Where is my book of herbal medicines?
3.
Make a list of at least five pronouns.
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Now, use three of your pronouns in sentences.
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4.
What does an adjective do? _________________________________________________________________
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5.
What does an adverb do? ___________________________________________________________________
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6.
Rewrite these sentences, adding adjectives and adverbs where you think necessary.
(a) The ball bounced. _______________________________________________________________________
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(b) A truck sped. ___________________________________________________________________________
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7.
Write a sentence on a topic of your choice. Draw a line between the subject and the predicate of your
sentence.
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Parts of Speech
Nouns
A noun names a person, place, thing, or idea. Nouns can be common
(girl) or proper (Sheila). Some special types of nouns are:
Nouns are the words that people use to
tell about something. They are the
largest bank of words in a language,
because they are the “naming” words.
Nouns have gender, which means they
are male (boy, Drake), female (girl,
Judy), or neutral (ticket, CN Tower).
• compound nouns, made up of two or more smaller words:
keyboard, yo-yo, sister-in-law, high school
• collective nouns, naming groups of people, things, animals:
people, herd, family, team
• concrete nouns, naming something or someone that can be
seen or touched: drum, smoke
• abstract nouns, naming ideas, qualities or feelings: freedom, time, love
1.
2.
Give a proper noun for each of these common nouns.
city: _____________________________________
lake: _____________________________________
country: _________________________________
candy: ___________________________________
man: ____________________________________
woman: __________________________________
Circle the abstract nouns in this list.
life
bat
vessel
beauty
courage
dish
admiration
ugly
space
Earth
Use two of the abstract nouns in a sentence.
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Nouns can be made plural in the following ways:
• for most nouns, add s: cans, dogs, streets
• for nouns ending in s, sh, ch, x, and z, add es: buses, dishes,
churches, boxes, buzzes
Some plurals are irregular. They follow a
different pattern. For example, nouns ending in
o generally add es: potatoes, tomatoes. Some
nouns change when they become plural: child
to children, man to men. Some nouns remain
the same, singular or plural: sheep.
• for words ending in y: if a vowel comes before the y, add s: bays,
toys; if a consonant comes before the y, change y to i then add es: babies, skies
• for most nouns ending in f, change the f to v, then add es: calves, wolves, shelves (some just add s: roofs)
3.
4.
Make these nouns plural.
speech: _____________________
___________________
half: _____________________
splash:
hat: _________________________
_____________________
mystery: _________________
waltz:
Rewrite this sentence making the nouns plural.
I found many loaf of bread, along with two axe, three sandwich, and twelve berry.
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Make a list of interesting nouns you find in your everyday reading. These could be used in your own writing.
Parts of Speech
Pronouns
A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun or another pronoun.
For example, read this sentence: Reesha hit the ball, and she ran home.
The pronoun she takes the place of the noun Reesha.
1.
The word that a pronoun replaces is
called the antecedent. It usually
comes before the pronoun in the
sentence.
Underline the pronouns in these sentences. Tell which nouns they replace.
(a) Jared found the movie pass, and he went to the show. ___________________________________________
(b) Tia showed us her collection of stamps. ______________________________________________________
(c) Mildred was late, and she had to arrive later. __________________________________________________
(d) The ship crossed into the harbour, and it moored at the dock. _____________________________________
2.
3.
For each noun, write a pronoun that could replace it.
Patricia: _________________________________
train: ____________________________________
Mary: ___________________________________
Ferdinand: ________________________________
spoon: ___________________________________
women: __________________________________
Pronouns can be possessive. For example, these are possessive pronouns: my, mine, her, his, their,
theirs, its, your, yours, our, ours. Add possessive pronouns to these sentences to replace the nouns.
(a) Mary’s coat was found by __________________ brother.
(b) David wanted ___________________ speech to be heard by the audience, but ___________
choice was John’s.
(c) The car was hit by _______________ windshield wiper in the strong wind.
(d) The crowd yelled, “This is ___________________ park, not ____________________!”
Write two sentences that use possessive pronouns.
(a) ______________________________________________________________________________________
(b) ______________________________________________________________________________________
4.
A special type of pronoun is the interrogative pronoun. These pronouns ask questions. They do not
refer to specific nouns or pronouns. Common interrogative pronouns are what, which, who, whom,
whose. Write three questions, each using an interrogative pronoun.
(a) ______________________________________________________________________________________
(b) ______________________________________________________________________________________
(c) ______________________________________________________________________________________
Try to write a short piece using no nouns, only pronouns. Does it make sense?
Review
1.
Sentences 1
There are four sentence types: declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory. Write the
type of each of these sentences.
(a) We have found the lost tomb! ______________________________________________________________
(b) Bring the score sheet from last night’s game. __________________________________________________
(c) The lion growled at its trainer. _____________________________________________________________
(d) Where is the lion trainer? _________________________________________________________________
2.
Write an example of each type of sentence.
Declarative: ______________________________________________________________________________
Interrogative: ____________________________________________________________________________
Imperative: ______________________________________________________________________________
Exclamatory:_____________________________________________________________________________
3.
4.
A sentence is made up of a subject (who or what the sentence is about; the noun) and a predicate
(what happens in the sentence; the verb). Read this sentence: The cart is full of apples. The cart is
the subject; is full of apples is the predicate. In each sentence, draw a diagonal between the subject
and the predicate.
(a) The dog walked slowly home.
(d) We found our tickets at last!
(b) I have a new skateboard.
(e) A satellite fell to Earth.
(c) The songs on my new CD are silly.
(f) Bring your snorkel to the beach.
A simple sentence has a subject and a predicate. It is also an independent clause (this means it can
stand on its own). Look at this example of a simple sentence: The box was opened by the custodian.
Write two simple sentences on topics of your choice. Draw a diagonal between the subject and the
predicate of each sentence.
(a) ______________________________________________________________________________________
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(b) ______________________________________________________________________________________
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5.
A compound sentence is made up of two simple sentences joined by a conjunction. For example, look
at these sentences: The wolf howled loudly. The pack looked up. They can be made into a compound
sentence like this: The wolf howled loudly, and the pack looked up.
Make these simple sentences into a compound sentence by joining them together with a conjunction.
The Sun’s rays of light brightened the day. The flowers turned upward.
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Review
1.
Sentences 2
Write two compound sentences of your own. Remember that a compound sentence is made up of two
simple sentences joined by a conjunction.
(a) ______________________________________________________________________________________
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(b) ______________________________________________________________________________________
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A complex sentence is made up of one main simple sentence and at least one other simple sentence
that is dependent (or relies) on the main sentence. (The main simple sentence is also called a
independent clause; the dependent sentence is called the subordinate clause.) For example, A cat
climbed the tree is a main simple sentence; after it was scared by the dog is a dependent simple
sentence. Put them together like this: A cat climbed the tree after it was scared by the dog.
2.
Add a main simple sentence (independent clause) to each dependent simple sentence (subordinate
clause) to make a complex sentence.
(a) Although we had arrived at the hotel, ________________________________________________________
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(b) Whenever Joel tries to rollerblade, __________________________________________________________
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(c) After the game was over, _________________________________________________________________
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(d) When the clouds parted after the storm, ______________________________________________________
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(e) Unless the audience is booing, _____________________________________________________________
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Clauses make up sentences. Every clause has a subject and a predicate. An independent clause makes
sense on its own as a sentence. A subordinate clause does not make sense on its own as a sentence. It
relies on an independent clause and must be linked to one.
Independent clause: The cyclist won the race
Subordinate clause: after she had pedalled hard and fast during the last lap
Clauses together: The cyclist won the race after she had pedalled hard and fast during the last lap.
3.
Add independent clauses to these subordinate clauses to make complete sentences.
(a) As soon as we arrive in Victoria, ___________________________________________________________
(b) _______________________________________________________________ , when the school bell rings.
(c) Although it was supposed to be a wonderful picnic, _____________________________________________
Review
1.
Usage
These sentences have misplaced and dangling modifiers. Rewrite them, correcting the error in each
one.
(a) The large sofa was carried into the truck by the movers with soft cushions.
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(b) Instead of watching television, a book was read.
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(c) The giraffe watched the zookeeper with a speckled neck.
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(d) Not able to surf the wave, a lifeguard came to his rescue.
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(e) A tree was climbed by the children with falling leaves.
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2.
Write two sentences of your own that use modifiers correctly placed in the sentences.
(a) ______________________________________________________________________________________
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(b) ______________________________________________________________________________________
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3.
Who is used if it is the subject in its own clause (I wonder who wrote it.). Whom is used if it is the
object in its own clause (I wonder whom I can ask.). Rewrite these sentences correcting any problems
with who or whom.
(a) Whom gave me this book? ________________________________________________________________
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(b) I gave the book to who it belongs. __________________________________________________________
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(c) We need to find whom runs the club. ________________________________________________________
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Write two sentences that use who and whom correctly.
(a) ______________________________________________________________________________________