English Grammar: Nouns and Pronouns

Nouns

• Nouns are words for people, places, things, or ideas.
• Types of nouns:
  • Common nouns: general terms (e.g., dog, city)
  • Proper nouns: specific names (e.g., Spot, New York)
  • Concrete nouns: physical objects (e.g., table, book)
  • Abstract nouns: concepts or ideas (e.g., happiness, freedom)
  • Collective nouns: groups of things (e.g., team, flock)
  • Compound nouns: two or more words combined (e.g., ice cream, bookstore)
  • Possessive nouns: show ownership (e.g., dog's bone, girl's book)

Pronouns

• Pronouns replace nouns to avoid repetition.
• Pronoun/Noun Cases
  • First person - single (I, me, my, mine)
  • Second person - single (you, your, yours)
  • Third person - single (he, she, it, him, her, his, hers, its)
  • First person - plural (we, us, our, ours)
  • Second person - plural (you, your, yours)
  • Third person - plural (they, them, their, theirs)

Adjectives

• Adjectives describe nouns or pronouns.
• Types of adjectives:
  • Coordinating adjectives: describe the same noun, separated by commas.
  • Cumulative adjectives: describe the same noun, NOT separated by commas. Ordering matters. Compound nouns are an exception.

Conjunctions

• Conjunctions connect words, phrases, and clauses.
  • Coordinating conjunctions: connect equal parts of a sentence (FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)
  • Subordinating conjunctions: connect less important clauses to a more important clause.

Clauses

• Clauses consist of a subject and a verb.
  • Independent clauses: complete sentences on their own.
  • Dependent clauses: incomplete sentences, needing an independent clause to create a complete thought.

Degrees of Comparison

• Modifiers are words that enhance the meaning of other parts of speech(nouns, verbs, other adjectives).
  • Positive degree: no comparison.
  • Comparative degree: comparing two things.
  • Superlative degree: comparing three or more things.

Irregular Modifiers

• Some modifiers have irregular forms for comparison. (e.g., good-better-best)

Verbs

• Verbs are the core of a sentence, expressing action or state of being.
  • Action verbs: describe physical or mental actions.
  • Linking verbs: connect the subject to a noun or adjective (e.g., be, become, seem).
  • Helping verbs: help the main verb specify tense. (e.g., will, had, could)

Character

• Character refers to a person or animal in a story or literary work.
  • Character traits: qualities that define a character.
  • Character motives: reasons behind a character's actions.