Nouns
•Name
a person, place, thing, or idea.
•There are two types: Common & Proper
•The first letter of a proper noun is capitalized
because it names a specific person, place, thing, idea
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Verbs show action or state of being.
Action Verbs can have helping (or auxiliary)
verbs to help denote tense.
Linking verbs connect the subject to a word
that modifies or renames it.
Common linking verbs are: am, is, are, was,
were, be, being, been, seems, appears, looks
When unsure if a verb is an action or linking
verb, replace the complete verb with is or are.
If the meaning remains the same, it is a linking
verb.
Katie appeared ill.
Katie appeared out of thin air.
 Pronouns
replace a noun
 Every pronoun needs a clear antecedent, and
the pronoun must agree with its antecedent.
 Commonly used pronouns are: I, you, he, she,
it, we, they, your, yours, our, ours, mine, me,
my, us, them, his, her, hers, their, theirs, its
 Demonstrative: This, that, these, those
 Interrogative: who, whom, whose, which, what
 Indefinite: Any, another, anybody, anyone,
anything, each, either, everybody, everyone,
everything, neither, no one, one, someone,
both, few, many, several, some, none, all, most
*Remember, to function as a pronoun, a word
must be replacing another.

Identify the pronoun & its
antecedent
1. All of these computers have
their drawbacks.
2. People trying to reduce their
salt intake should avoid canned
foods.
3. At the men’s bowling
tournament, one of the bowlers
hurt his ankle.
4. Mr. Mass told the students
“Anyone looking for a book
can take one from this pile.”
5. Jill told Matt that she had to get
more sleep.
6. “You need to get a new
notebook,” Kate told Jenny.

Fill in the pronoun that
agrees with the antecedent
1.Anyone can get __ name in the
news.
2.None of the checks were
cashed;___ finally expired.
3. A person should insure ____
valuables.
4. The code breakers shared ___
secrets.
5. San Diego and San Jose get ___
names from Spanish.
6. Either Eleanor Roosevelt or
Ellen Wilson is believed to have
covered for ___ husband during
presidential emergencies.
 As
we have already discussed, adjectives
modify nouns and pronouns
 Adjectives answer the questions: What kind?,
which one?, how many?, or how much?
 Generally, adjectives come before the nouns
or pronouns that they modify, but at times,
they can come after.
 There are also words that appear to be
pronouns, but function as adjectives, such as
this, that, these, those, my, your, his, its, our,
theirs, what, which, whose. So, one must
determine how the word is functioning in a
sentence.
 as
we have already discussed, adverbs modify
verbs, adverbs, and adjectives
 Often times, adverbs are formed by adding an
–ly ending to an adjective.
 Adverbs answer the questions: Where? , In
what way?, When?, or To what extent?
 Many prepositions can function as adverbs.
One must remember that all prepositions must
have an object, if it does not it is an adverb.
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A preposition shows a relationship between its object and
other words in a sentence. The preposition may be in the
form of one word (at, by, in, on, etc.) or in the form of a
phrase that functions as a unit (in front of, by way of, etc.).
Some of the relationships that prepositions express are
place or position, time, manner, direction, and agent.
Once a prepositional phrase is formed, it acts as either an
adverb or adjective to modify another word in the
sentence.
 John
came out of the house and went to the store.
 He went in and bought a box of chocolate chip
cookies.
 The cookies were hard and bland, so John decided to
make some homemade cookies.
 The new cookies were so chocolaty and melted in
John’s mouth.
Conjunctions, unlike prepositions that show relationships between
words, make direct connections between words. There are three
kinds of conjunctions: Coordinating, correlative, and
subordinating.
Three types of conjunctions are
 Coordinating conjunctions connect similar words or groups of
words. The seven coordinating conjunctions are and, but, for, nor,
or, so, yet.
 Correlative conjunctions are always used in pairs and connect
similar words or groups of words. The correlative conjunctions are
both...and, either...or, neither...nor, not only...but also, whether...or.
 Subordinating conjunctions connect two complete ideas by
making one of the ideas subordinate, or less important than, the
other.
 Frequently used subordinating conjunctions are after, although, as,
as if, as long as, as though, because, before, even if, even though, if,
in order that, now that, since, so that, than, though, till, unless, until,
when, whenever, where, wherever, and while.

 Since
we couldn’t go swimming, we watched a
movie.
 It will rain as it is dark and cloudy.
 Although he knew it was difficult, he still tried.
 She wouldn’t cry unless she was hurt
 Whether or not I am going, it is none of your
business.
 I have prepared for the test, so I should do
well.
 Jean recycled not only consistently but also
carefully.
 Kim and Jane are going to the concert, but
Joey cannot.
 Because
many words can be used as
conjunctions, prepositions, or adverbs,
students must determine how the word is used
in a sentence to determine its part of speech.
 An
interjection is a word that expresses a
feeling or emotion and functions
independently in a sentence. Examples of
interjections are Oh no, alas, hey, ouch, wow.
Interjections are seldom used in formal
writing.
 Examples: Ouch! I am never going to give
blood again.
 I wanted to do well on this test, but alas, I
failed.
 Verbals: A
generic term for words that look
like verbs, but function as another part of
speech
 Participles: look like verbs, but function as an
adjective
 Gerunds: Has an –ing ending like a verb, but
functions as a noun
 Infinitives: to+ a verb and is used as a noun or
a modifer
 Playing
baseball at Yankee Stadium was Matt’s
ultimate fantasy.
 Jim's confusing message did nothing to solve
the mystery.
 To dance on stage in New York is my only
dream.
 The politician's broken promises were all that
the voters remembered.
 I always seem to forget my purse after lunch.
 Playing the tuba made Orin feel as if his world
was perfect.
 Brenda seemed surprised with the team's
decision to withdraw.
 What
questions do adjectives answer?
 What questions do adverbs answer?
 What are the three types of conjunctions? What
does each do?
 What is the most important thing to remember
about pronouns?
 What does a preposition need to be a preposition?
 What is the trick to use if you are unsure if a verb
is action or linking
 What part of speech is never used in formal
writing?
 What jobs do prepositional phrases perform?
 What is a verbal?
 What are the three kinds of verbals and what does
each do?
Identify the pronoun and
its antecedent
 Playing the tuba made
Orin feel as if his world
was perfect.
 The players on the team
were happy because
they won.
 One of the students
forgot his music.
 There, in the corner, sat
the students waiting for
their parents.
Fill in the appropriate
pronoun.
 Each of the boys
remembered that ___
had a test today.
 Neither Mike nor James
got ___ paper signed
 Everyone in the class
earned a 90 on ____ test.
 “All of you must pass the
senior project because
the state mandates it,”
Mr. Forgione told the
students.
Identify the part of speech for each word.
 Caring for a pet is fun, but it is very hard
work.
 One of the students from each row should
quickly pass out the books.