Grammar: Parts of Speech and Sentence Construction Part I.

Grammar: Parts of Speech

and Sentence ConstructionPart I

NOUNS

VER

BS

Preposition

sAdjecti

ves

AdverbsINTERJECTIONS

CONJUNCTIONS

PRONOU

NS

You could get by in the world only knowing two parts of speech—

NOUNS AND VERBS

You would sound a little Neanderthal when you talked, but you could get by.

What are nouns?

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NOUNS

Nouns are names of people, places, things, and ideas. Most of the time a noun is something that you can touch or see. (These are called “concrete nouns.”) Ninety-nine percent of all nouns fall into this category.

Nouns that you can’t touch or see are called abstract nouns. Abstract nouns are things like—

freedom

surprise

remorse

hate

friendship

patriotism

dislike

love

anger

confusion

Find the nouns in the excerpt below:Few inventions have changed the world like computers. We find ourselves spending more time sitting in front of a computer screen than in front of a television. In some ways computers give us freedom. Tasks that were difficult and laborious in past years can now be done with the click of a button.

But computers have also created more work for us. Companies give computers to workers, not so that the employee can have a cool machine, but so that the company can access the worker twenty-four hours per day. Have computers given us independence? Or have they become the masters and we are now the slaves?

Find the nouns in the excerpt below:Few inventions have changed the world like computers. We find ourselves spending more time sitting in front of a computer screen than in front of a television. In some ways computers give us freedom. Tasks that were difficult and laborious in past years can now be done with the click of a button.

But computers have also created more work for us. Companies give computers to workers, not so that the employee can have a cool machine, but so that the company can access the worker twenty-four hours per day. Have computers given us independence? Or have they become the masters and we are now the slaves?

VERBSVerbs are the power of a sentence, the fire of a sentence. We can improve our writing more by improving our knowledge and use of verbs than by any other means.

Action—these are the easy ones. They are words that show action—run, jump, sit, think, eat, drive, sleep, know, revolve, spin, type, watch, walk, swing, dance. . .

Sometimes these verbs need “help.” We use helping or auxiliary verbs to help us express the time a particular action happened.

“I am typing.” The action verb is “typing.” But the helping verb “am” let’s us know that this is a current action—something that is happening now.

Linking VerbsLinking verbs are words that link the subject with a word in the predicate.

I am a teacher.

The subject of this sentence is “I.” The linking verb is “am.” And the word in the predicate that the linking verb connects to the subject is “teacher.” Without linking verbs we sound like Tarzan—

I teacher. You student.

Linking verbs sometimes can act as auxiliary (helping) verbs. But when they function that way, they are followed by action verbs. It is easy to distinguish between the two of them if you try.

I am teaching my class.

Find the verbs in the selection below. Identify the verb phrase first. Tell which is the auxiliary verb and which is the main verb. If the verb is an action verb, identify it as action. If it is a linking verb, identify it as linking.

Jennifer chose her college because her boyfriend was attending the same university. George picked SMU because his father graduated from there twenty-five years ago. Melissa was packing her bags for SFA since so many of her friends were going there. And Gregory had decided on Tomball College because he was too lazy to send applications to a university. Are any of these young people going to their colleges for the right reasons? Will they have positive experiences?

Choose your college carefully. Select one that offers the degree that you want to earn. Pick a college that you have an interest in. If your friends have chosen different schools, keep in touch with them by email or phone, but do not go to a school that is not right for you just because a friend goes there. You might be wasting both your time and your money.

Jennifer chose her college because her boyfriend was attending the same university. George picked SMU because his father graduated from there twenty-five years ago. Melissa was packing her bags for SFA since so many of her friends were going there. And Gregory had decided on Tomball College because he was too lazy to send applications to a university. Are any of these young people going to their colleges for the right reasons? Will they have positive experiences?

Choose your college carefully. Select one that offers the degree that you want to earn. Pick a college that you have an interest in. If your friends have chosen different schools, keep in touch with them by email or phone, but do not go to a school that is not right for you just because a friend goes there. You might be wasting both your time and your money.

Verb phrase is in red.Auxiliary verb is underlined in green.Linking verb is in blue.

Adjectives—The Words that Describe

Adjectives are words Which one that tell: How many

What color

What kind

They modify nouns and pronouns. You have a car. But what kind of car is it? What color is it? Which one is it? How many cars do you have? Without adjectives we could not answer those questions.

Jon drove a noisy, old, red car.

What are the adjectives in this sentence?

Adjectives modify nouns.

The truck

The big red truck

Adjectives modify

pronouns.The gardener was

hot and sweaty from working in the

sun all day.When adjectives

modify pronouns, the adjectives usually

follow a linking verb and modify the

subject. What is the linking verb in the above sentence?

Articles

The words “a,” “an,” and “the” are always adjectives. They are

called articles.

When adjectives modify nouns, the adjectives usually come immediately before the nouns they

modify.

Find the adjectives in the following sentences.

What is your favorite movie? I love Steel Magnolias. Sally Field is one of my favorite actresses. She may be short, but she is cute and enthusiastic. She began acting when she was a young girl, playing Gidget on television. She soon moved to the big screen and succeeded there, too. Ms. Field has performed with some of the most famous actors in Hollywood. She has made several great movies with Tom Hanks. Maybe I like her because she is small. She and I have that one thing in common.

Find the adjectives in the following sentences.

What is your favorite movie? I love Steel Magnolias. Sally Field is one of my favorite actors. She may be short, but she is cute and enthusiastic. She began acting when she was a young girl, playing Gidget on television. She soon moved to the big screen and succeeded there, too. Ms. Field has performed with some of the most famous actors in Hollywood. She has made several great movies with Tom Hanks. Maybe I like her because she is small. She and I have that one thing in common.

AdverbsAdverbs modify verbs. That does not mean that adverbs describe verbs. Verbs can’t be described. Adverbs tells us how, when, where and to what extent about verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. Sounds a little confusing, but it is easy if you think about it.

Hearing footsteps behind her, Linda walked swiftly to her car.

What word in that sentence answers the word “how” about the verb “walked?” What word might you add that could modify “swiftly” to intensify it?

The doctor is tired.“Doctor” is the subject (noun), and “tired” is the adjective that describes that noun.

The doctor is very tired.“Doctor” is still the subject (noun), and “tired” is still the verb. The word “very” is an adverb, an intensifier, that modifies the adjective “tired.” It tells us to what extent the doctor is tired.

Even though sometimes we must use adverbs, we should put more effort into strengthening our verbs so that adverbs become less necessary. For example, if I heard footsteps behind me, I would not “walk swiftly” to my car. I would not “walk very swiftly.” I would run, race, dash, sprint. But sometimes adverbs are necessary. We need to know how to identify them, and we need to know how they work in a sentence.

Jennifer left work immediately after receiving a phone call.When did Jennifer leave? That word is an adverb.

Gilbert deliberated intensively before making his decision.How did Gilbert deliberate? That word is an adverb. How could we rewrite this sentence so that an adverb is unnecessary?

After intensive deliberations, Gilbert decided his course of action.