1. Parts of Speech Review
I. Nouns: A noun names a person, a place, a thing,
or an idea.
Examples:
Persons: carpenter, tourists, team, cousins,
Faith Smith
Places: cities, theater, forest, New York
Things: merry-go-round, bricks, birds,
Liberty Bell
Ideas: justice, creativity, self-control,
opinions, Buddhism
A. Common Nouns versus Proper Nouns
1. Common noun: names any one of a
group of persons, places, things, or
ideas. These are NOT CAPITALIZED
unless they start a sentence or
quotation.
2. Proper noun: names a particular
person, place, thing, or idea and IS
CAPITALIZED.
Examples of both:
Common Nouns Proper Nouns
woman Elizabeth, Margaret Thatcher
nation Egypt, Mexico, U.S. A.
event World War II, Pan-American Games
holiday Fourth of July, Christmas, Easter
language English, Spanish
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2. B. Concrete versus Abstract Nouns
1. Concrete noun: names a person, a
place, or thing that can be perceived
by one or more of your senses (sight,
hearing, taste, touch, and smell).
Examples: sneeze, star, gravel,
cinnamon, Beijing, Eiffel Tower,
Sammy Sosa.
2. Abstract noun: names an idea, feeling,
a quality, or a characteristic.
Examples: peace, civilization, honor,
courage, Manifest Destiny.
C. Collective nouns: a noun that is singular
in form but names a group.
Examples: family, audience, herd, troop,
company, committee, band, jury, team,
class, flock.
D. Compound nouns: consists of two or
more words that together name a person,
a place, a thing, or an idea. The parts of a
compound noun may be written as one
word, as separate words, or as a
hyphenated word.
Examples:
One word: stairway, firefighter, bookcase
Separate words: lieutenant, governor,
ceiling fan, Golden Gate Bridge.
Hyphenated Words: sisters-in-law, jack-
of-all-trades, great-uncle, stick-in-the-mud.
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3. II. Pronouns: a word that takes the place of one or
more nouns or pronouns. The word or word
group that a pronoun stands for is called the
antecedent.
A. Personal pronouns: a pronoun that refers to
the one speaking, the one spoken to, or the
one spoken about.
1st
person: the person speaking
2nd
person: the person spoken to
3rd
person: the person spoken about
**There are three cases of personal pronouns:
Nominative, Objective, and Possessive.
1. Nominative Case: shows the subject of a
verb. Remember that the subject is the
noun or pronoun that performs the action
of the verb. A noun or pronoun in the
nominative case may also function as the
predicate nominative. A predicate
nominative is a noun or pronoun that
follows a linking verb and points back to
the subject to rename it or to identify it
further.
2. Objective Case: pronouns in the objective
case are used as direct objects, indirect
objects, or objects of a preposition.
a.) Direct Object: a noun or pronoun that
answers the question what? or
whom? after an action verb.
b.) Indirect Object: a noun or pronoun
that answers the question to whom?
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4. for whom? to what? or for what?
after an action verb.
c.) Object of a preposition: a noun or
pronoun that ends a prepositional
phrase.
3. Possessive Case: a noun or pronoun that
is used to show ownership or possession.
3 Cases of Personal Pronouns
Nominative Case
Singular Plural
1st
person: I we
2nd
person: you you
3rd
person: he, she, it they
Objective Case
Singular Plural
1st
person: me us
2nd
person: you you
3rd
person: him, her, it them
Possessive Case
Singular Plural
1st
person: my, mine our, ours
2nd
person: your, your your, yours
3rd
person: his, hers, its their, theirs
B. Reflexive pronouns: a pronoun that always
ends in –self or –selves and refers, or reflects
back, to the subject of the sentence, indicating
that the same person or thing is involved. A
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5. reflexive pronoun always adds information to a
sentence. It functions as a predicate
nominative, a direct object, or an object of a
preposition.
Examples:
1. Jim uses a stopwatch to time himself on
the track. (Himself reflects back on the
subject, Jim.)
2. She taught herself to play the piano
(Herself reflects back on the subject, She,
and functions as a direct object.)
C. Intensive pronouns: a pronoun that always
ends in –self or –selves and emphasizes its
antecedent (a noun or another pronoun). It
serves no grammatical purpose in a sentence
and may be removed without changing the
meaning of the sentence.
Examples:
1. He himself delivered the flowers. (Himself
only emphasizes the subject, He, but
serves no grammatical function.)
2. You must sign the application yourself.
(Yourself emphasizes the subject, You, but
serves no grammatical function.)
Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns
Singular Plural
1st
person: myself ourselves
2nd
person: yourself yourselves
3rd
person: himself, herself, itself themselves
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6. D. Demonstrative Pronouns: pronouns that point
out specific persons, places, things, or ideas.
They are: this, that, these, those.
E. Interrogative Pronouns: pronouns used to
form or introduce questions. They are: who,
whom, whose, which, what.
F. Relative Pronouns: pronouns used to
introduced a subordinate clause. They are:
that, which, who, whom, whose.
G. Indefinite Pronouns: pronouns that refer to
persons, places, things, or ideas that may or
may not be specifically named. The indefinite
pronoun may not have a specific antecedent.
1. Indefinite pronouns that are singular:
Anybody anyone anything
one each either
everybody everyone everything
neither someone nobody
no one nothing something
2. Indefinite pronouns that are plural :
both many
few several
3.Indefinite pronouns that may be singular
or plural; depending on their meaning in a sentence:
all most enough
any none
more some
*These pronouns are singular when they refer to
singular words.
Ex.1 All of the workout seems simple.
(All refers to the singular noun workout)
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7. Ex. 2 All of the exercises seem simple
(All refers to the plural noun exercises)
Ex. 3 Are any of the vegetables left?
(Any refers to the plural noun vegetables)
Ex. 4 Is any of the salad left?
(Any refers to the singular noun salad)
III. Adjectives
~ An Adjective modifies or describes a noun or a
pronoun only. An adjective answers the questions:
Which one? How many?
What kind? How much?
IV. Articles
~ Articles are the most frequently used adjectives. ( A,
an,the)
a. A and an are indefinite articles because they
refer to any member of a general group.
b. The is the definite article because it refers to a
specific person, place, thing, or idea.
V. Verbs
~ A verb expresses action on a state of being. A
main verb and one or more helping verbs make up a
verb phrase.
A. Action verbs – express physical or mental
action/activity
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8. Example:
Physical Mental
Speak Think
Sleep Imagine
Carry Dream
Throw Know
B. Linking Verbs – connect the subject to a word
on word group that identifies or describes the
subject.
Common Linking Verbs
Am be will be had been
Is can be could be shall have been
Are may be should be will have been
Was might be would be could have been
Were must be has been should have been
Being shall be have been would have been
*Other linking verbs (may not be action or linking)
appear grow seem stay
become look smell taste
feel remain sound turn
C. Transitive Verbs – these words are always
action verbs because they always have an
object (or a word or word group that tells who or
what receives the action of the verb.)
D. Intransitive Verbs – these verbs never have an
object. They may be action or linking verbs.
Many verbs may be transitive or intransitive
depending on how they are used.
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9. Ex. 1. The rain fell. (fell has no object, so it is
intransitive)
Ex. 2.My cousin arrived yesterday. (Arrived has no
object; yesterday is an adverb. So, arrived is an
intransitive verb)
*Linking Verbs are always intransitive because
they never have an object.
VI. Adverbs – modify a verb, an adjective, or another
adverb. An adverb tells where, when, how, or to
what extent. ( how much, how often, or how long)
Many adverbs end in –ly.
*Not and n’t are adverbs telling to what extent.
VII. Preposition shows the relationship of a noun or
pronoun, called the object of the preposition, to
another word.
A. Common Prepositions:
About beside in through
Above besides inside throughout
Across between into to
Often beyond like toward
Against but (meaning “except”) near
Under along of underneath
Among by off until
Around concerning on unto
At down out up
Before during outside upon
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10. Behind except over with
Below for past within
Beneath from since without
B. Compound Prepositions – a preposition that
consists of two or more words.
Common Compound Prepositions
According to because of in spite of
Along with by means of instead of
Apart from in addition to next to
Aside from in front of on account
As of in place of out of
VIII. Conjunctions – join word or word groups
A. Coordinating conjunctions – join words or word
groups that are used in the same way.
Coordinating Conjunctions
And for on yet
But nor so
B. Correlative Conjunctions -pairs of conjunctions
that join words or word groups that are used in
the same way.
Correlative Conjunctions
Both…and either…or whether…or
Not only…but also neither…nor
C. Subordinating conjunctions – begin a
subordinate clause (subject and verb group
that can’t stand alone as a sentence) and
connects it to an independent clause (subject
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11. and verb that can stand alone as a complete
sentence)
Common Subordinating Conjunctions
After as though in order that
Although because provided
Though where as
Before since unless
Wherever as if how
So that until while
As much as if than
When
IX. Interjections – express emotion and have no
grammatical relation to the rest of the sentence.
Common Interjections
Ah oh well whew
Yahoo whoa yeah hooray
Aha alas aw oops
Ow hey ouch wow
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