This is a presentation on the different grammatical and language rules that middle - schoolers need to know.

1. Nouns:
- Proper nouns: Names of specific people, places, or things. They are capitalized.
Example: Thandi, Doctor.
- Common nouns: Names of general people, places, or things. They are not
capitalized. Example: woman, doctor.
- Countable nouns: Nouns that can be counted and have both singular and plural
forms. Example: chair/chairs.
- Uncountable nouns: Nouns that cannot be counted and do not have a plural form.
Example: sugar, hair.
- Abstract nouns: Nouns that represent ideas, feelings, qualities, or states. Example:
love, fear, respect.
- Concrete nouns: Nouns that represent tangible objects or things that can be
perceived by the senses. Example: ball, chair.
- Compound nouns: Nouns formed by combining two or more words. Example:
rainbow, child-lock, parking bay.
- Collective nouns: Nouns that refer to a group or collection of people or things.
Example: a swarm of bees, a bar of soap.
- Classifiers: Nouns that classify or describe a group or category. Example: a flock of
birds, a pack of wolves.
- Complex nouns: Nouns that consist of multiple words or phrases. Example: The
University of the Witwatersrand, the dog that bites.
- Gerunds: Nouns derived from verbs, ending in "-ing," and used to express actions.
Example: swimming is good, driving is pleasant.
Number and Possession:
- Number (singular and plural): Nouns can have singular (one) or plural (more than
one) forms. Example: chair/chairs.
- Nouns with no change in number in the singular form: Nouns that are always
treated as plural, even in singular form. Example: scissors, trousers.
- Possessive forms of nouns: Nouns that show ownership or possession. Example:
Lesego's desk, learners' desks, children's toys.
Grammar Concepts:
- Predicate and object: The predicate is the part of a sentence that contains the verb
and provides information about the subject. The object is the noun or pronoun that
receives the action of the verb.
- Gender: Nouns that indicate the sex or gender of a person or animal. Example:
cock, hen, stallion, mare.
- Diminutives: Nouns that indicate smallness or express affection. They are formed
by adding prefixes or suffixes. Example: cigar, cigarette, river, rivulet.
- Augmentatives: Nouns that indicate bigness or exaggeration. They are formed by
adding prefixes. Example: superpower, supermarket, megabyte, megastar.
- Nouns derived from other parts of speech: Nouns formed from verbs, adjectives, or
other word forms. Example: happiness (from happy), singer (from sing).

2. Adverbs:
- Adverbs of manner: Adverbs that describe how an action is performed. Example:
quietly, carefully, politely.
- Adverbs of time: Adverbs that indicate when an action takes place. Example:
yesterday, tomorrow, last year.
- Adverbs of frequency: Adverbs that describe how often an action occurs. Example:
always, usually, often.
- Adverbs of probability: Adverbs that express the likelihood or possibility of
something happening. Example: certainly, possibly, perhaps.
- Adverbs of duration: Adverbs that indicate the length of time an action lasts.
Example: still, yet.
- Adverbs of degree: Adverbs that modify or intensify the meaning of an adjective or
another adverb. Example: completely, strongly, totally.
Prepositions:
- Simple prepositions: One-word prepositions that indicate location, direction, time, or
manner. Example
: to, in, on, at, with.
- Compound prepositions: Two-word prepositions that combine to express a specific
relationship. Example: according to, in addition to.
- Complex prepositions: Prepositional phrases consisting of three or more words.
Example: as far as, by means of, in front of.
- Preposition of time: Prepositions that indicate the time of an action or event.
Example: on Monday, in the morning.
- Preposition of place: Prepositions that indicate the location or position of
something. Example: in the garden, on the table.
- Preposition of movement: Prepositions that indicate the direction or movement of
something. Example: to, through, across.
- Preposition of mathematics: Prepositions used in mathematical expressions.
Example: divided by, minus.
Adjectives and Nouns with Prepositions:
- Adjectives + preposition: Adjectives that are commonly used with specific
prepositions. Example: afraid of, bored with.
- Noun + preposition: Nouns that are commonly used with specific prepositions.
Example: reason for, comment on.
Sentence Structures:
- Clauses: Groups of words that contain a subject and a predicate.
- Main clause (independent): A clause that can stand alone as a complete
sentence. Example: We visited Durban last June.

3. - Dependent clause (subordinate): A clause that cannot stand alone as a sentence
and depends on the main clause. Example: We visited Durban last June, and then
we went to Phalaborwa in December.
- Adverbial clause: A dependent clause that functions as an adverb, modifying the
verb. Example: We visited Durban in June because it is warm in winter.
- Adjectival clause: A dependent clause that functions as an adjective, modifying a
noun. Example: This is the town that we visited last year.
- Noun clause: A dependent clause that functions as a noun within a sentence.
Example: What we saw at Table Mountain was amazing.
- Conditional clause: A dependent clause that expresses a condition and its result.
- First conditional: Expresses a real possibility. Example: If it rains, we will cancel
the trip.
- Second conditional: Expresses something unlikely or improbable. Example: If I
won the lottery, I would buy my mother a house.
- Third conditional: Expresses something hypothetical in the past. Example: If I
had worked harder, I would have passed.
Phrases:
- Absolute phrases: Phrases that modify the whole sentence. Example: Heritage
sites being the top Limpopo attraction, the Mapungubwe is the place to go.
- Noun phrase: A phrase that functions as a noun in a sentence. Example: The
University of Cape Town is one of the best in Africa.
- Gerund phrase: A phrase that consists of a gerund and its modifiers. Example:
Visiting Kruger National Park, we were excited about the beauty of nature.
- Verb phrase: A phrase that consists of a main verb and its auxiliary verbs.
Example: The first democratic election was held in 1994.
- Prepositional phrase: A phrase that begins with a preposition and includes a noun
or pronoun. Example: During my last visit to Johannesburg in 2002, I took the
Gautrain to O R Tambo Airport.
Sentences:
- Sentence types:
- Simple sentence: A sentence that consists of one independent clause. Example: I
like to play soccer.
- Compound sentence: A sentence that consists of two or more independent
clauses joined by coordinating conjunctions. Example: I like to play soccer, and my
brother prefers basketball.
- Complex sentence: A sentence that consists of one independent clause
and at least one dependent clause. Example: Although it was raining, we still went
for a walk.
- Passive voice: A grammatical construction where the subject of a sentence
receives the action. It emphasizes the receiver of the action rather than the doer.
- Simple present tense: The gate is locked at 6 o'clock every night.

4. - Present progressive (continuous) tense: The room is being cleaned at the
moment.
- Present perfect tense: A new supermarket has been opened this year.
- Simple past tense: The library was closed for the holidays.
- Past progressive (continuous) tense: They had to wait because the car was still
being cleaned.
- Past perfect tense: He had been poisoned by his girlfriend.
- Future tense: Next year the class will be taught by Mr Dube. / Next year a new
library is going to be built.
Reported Speech:
- Reported questions: Indirectly reporting a question that was originally asked.
Example: She asked me why I was so late.
- 'That' clauses: Indirectly reporting statements or facts. Example: She said that she
didn't know.