Friday, June 29, 2018

Parts of Speech

Nouns
A noun is a naming word. It can name a person, place or thing.
Person- boy, teacher, doctor, girl, farmer
Place- park, farm, house, library, beach.
Thing- car, ball, pen, pencil, book.
There are different categories of nouns:
1.     Common nouns name generic person, place or thing.
2.     Proper nouns name specific person, place or thing. They always start with a capital letter
boy=Jim
friend-Sarah
city-New York
ocean-Pacific Ocean
girl-Jill
3.     Collective nouns: names a certain group. It is singular in form. Example team, flock, herd, family.
4.     Countable nouns: As the name suggests, these nouns can be counted. For example two girls, one father, seven continents, six parks.
5.     Non-Countable nouns: These nouns cannot be counted. The refer to the unknown quantity. Example: traffic, water, soil.
6.     Abstract  nouns: are those which you cannot feel with your five senses. They are feelings or ideas. For example friendship, bravery, pride, humility, hope, benevolent, wisdom, kindness, jo, freedom.
Singular and Plural nouns: Nouns can be singular (one)-cat
Nouns can be plural (more than one)-cats
Convert singular noun to plural nouns:
1.     By adding s. 
a.      cat+s=cats
b.     girl+s=girls
c.      park+s=parks
d.     pen+s=pens
2.     By adding es
a.      bus+es=buses
b.     dish+es=dishes
3.     By changing f or fe to v and then adding es
a.      calf-f+ves=calves
b.     half-f+ves=halves
c.      leaf-f+ves=leaves
d.     theif-f+ves=thieves
4.     By changing y into I and then adding es
a.      fly-y+ies=flies
b.     cry-y+ies=cries


Pronouns
Pronouns are words that take the place of nouns. They themselves do not name a person, place or thing.
Nouns
Pronouns
boy
he
girl
she
Jim and Jill
they
Tom and I
we
computer
it

Let’s see this in some example:
1.     Sarah likes to sing
She likes to sing
2.     Tom ran fast.
He ran fast.
3.     Tom and I went to school.
We went to school
4.     Jim an Jill are friends.
They are friends.
5.     The computer is not working.
It is not working.
Types of Pronouns:
1.     Subjective Pronouns: This type behaves as a subject of the sentence.
a.      He fed the dog.
b.     It was very tasty
2.     Objective Pronouns: This type behaves as objects.
a.      Tom called him at 7 o’clock.
b.     Sarah gave them chocolates.
3.     Possessive Pronouns: tells about ownership.
a.      My cat is fat.
b.     May I use your pencil?
4.     Indefinite Pronouns: make generic rather than a specific statement.
a.      Anyone can sing
b.     Everybody is invited.
5.     Relative Pronouns: modifies a clause
a.      Tom, who built a ship.
b.     The park, which contains many swings.

Adjectives
Adjectives are describing words. They tell us more about nouns.
Types of Adjectives:
1.     Demonstrative Adjectives ask Which one? That cat.
2.     Quantitative Adjectives ask How many? Two cats.
3.     Descriptive Adjectives ask What kind? White cat.
4.     Whose? Tom’s cat.
5.     Qualitative Adjectives ask How much? few, little, very,
6.     Proper Adjectives: are formed from proper nouns
a.      American from America
b.     French from France
Adjectives change by degrees.
1.     The positive degree: these describe one thing. (big, good)
2.     The comparative adjective: these describe two things (bigger, better)
3.     The superlative adjective: these describe three things. (biggest, best)
Participles are verbs that may behave as adjectives. 
A boy talking on the phone. (The word talking modifies the noun boy)
Past Participles are verbs ending with -ed. 
A letter signed by Tom (The word signed modifies the noun letter)


Verbs 
Verbs are action words,
1.     The dog barks loudly.
2.     The bell rang.
3.     The birds flew.
4.     Tom threw the ball.
5.     The bird sings.
6.     The sun shines.
State of Being Verbs: These are also called linking verbs as they connect the subject to the rest of the sentence. These are not action words.
These are am, is, are, was, and were.
1.     Use am, is and was when speaking about one person, place or thing.
a.      He was here before you.
b.     She is kind.
c.      I am a girl.
2.     Use are and were with two or more-person, place or things.
a.      We are friends.
b.     I am your friend.


Adverbs
Adverbs are words that describe verbs.
An adverb answers:
1.     How? (quickly, slowly, fast)
a.      She quickly opened the door. (quickly tells how the door was opened.)
2.     When? (now, then, never
a.      Will you go to the park later? (later tells us when she will go to class.) 
3.     Where? Here, there, up, down
a.      Jim ran down the road. (down tells where Jim ran.)
Note: 
·       Many adverbs end with the suffix -ly. (slowly, easily, suddenly)
·       Best way to find adverbs in a sentence is first to locate the verb and then ask the question when?, where?, and how? about the verb.
o   Tom sat beside Jim.
       verbWhere?
o   The music played loudly.
                   verb   How?
o   Tom sang a song today.
         verb           When?


Articles
Articles are words that come before nouns. These are a, an and the.
1.     Use of the article “the”: This is used before a specific person, place or a thing.
the computer, the coat, the desk
2.     Use of the article “a”: This is used before any person, place or a thing. It is used before a noun that begins with a consonant sound.
a car, a tree, a pen, a pencil, a teacher
3.     Use of the article “an”: This is used before any person, place or a thing, It is used before a noun that begins with a vowel sound.
an apple, an aquarium, an elephant, an envelope


Conjunctions
Conjunctions are known as connectors. They join different parts of sentences including words and phrases. The most common occurring conjunctions are “or”, “and”, and “but”.  Other conjunctions used in the sentences are: since, because, however, if, while, unless, and although.
·       Do you want the black or the yellow toy?
·       I like cookies and ice cream.
·       Sarah is always on time but Jim isn’t.
·       Jill likes to cook while Sarah plays the piano.
·       Although Tom’s class is at 7:00, he often arrives at 8:00.
Prepositions
Prepositions are words that link a noun or a pronoun to the rest of the sentence. They tell us about the following:
1.     Position: These tell us about the position. For example, above, under, below, beside, by, near, beneath, between, against, in, out
a.      The pan is by the can.
b.     The ball is under the table.
c.      The pen is in the case.
d.     Jim stood beside Jill.
e.      Tom stood against the wall.
2.     Direction: around, across, along, down, up, from, towards.
a.      My house is across the street.
b.     Tom went around the tree.
c.      The ball rolled down the road.
d.     Tom ran towards the car.
e.      The balloon flew up in the sky.
3.     Location: at, in, on
a.      at school, at work, at home, at the bus stop
b.     in my car, in college, in a cab, in a boat
c.      on the mountain, on the bus, on the sand, on the table
4.     Time: at, in, on
a.      at noon, at sunrise, at midnight, at 3 o’clock.
b.     in September, in the winter, in the summer
c.      on Monday, on the weekend, on Christmas