Grammar: Parts of Speech

Parts of Speech

• Nouns:
  • Proper nouns: names of specific people, places, or things (e.g., John, London)
  • Common nouns: general categories of things (e.g., dog, city)
  • Collective nouns: groups of people, places, or things (e.g., family, team)
  • Abstract nouns: ideas or feelings (e.g., happiness, freedom)
• Verbs:
  • Action verbs: describe actions or events (e.g., run, jump)
  • Linking verbs: connect the subject to additional information (e.g., be, seem)
  • Helping verbs (auxiliary verbs): used to form tenses or questions (e.g., will, would)
  • Transitive verbs: take an object (e.g., throw, eat)
  • Intransitive verbs: do not take an object (e.g., sleep, laugh)
• Adjectives:
  • Modify nouns or pronouns (e.g., happy, big)
  • Quantitative adjectives: describe quantity (e.g., three, many)
  • Qualitative adjectives: describe quality (e.g., happy, blue)
• Adverbs:
  • Modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs (e.g., quickly, very)
  • Manner adverbs: describe how something is done (e.g., loudly, carefully)
  • Time adverbs: describe when something is done (e.g., yesterday, soon)
  • Place adverbs: describe where something is done (e.g., here, there)
  • Frequency adverbs: describe how often something is done (e.g., often, rarely)
• Pronouns:
  • Replace nouns in a sentence (e.g., he, she, it)
  • Personal pronouns: replace nouns that refer to people or animals (e.g., I, you, he)
  • Possessive pronouns: show ownership or possession (e.g., my, your, his)
  • Reflexive pronouns: refer back to the subject (e.g., myself, yourself, himself)
• Prepositions:
  • Show relationships between words in a sentence (e.g., in, on, under)
  • Words that indicate location, direction, or time
• Conjunctions:
  • Connect words, phrases, or clauses in a sentence (e.g., and, but, or)
  • Coordinating conjunctions: connect words or phrases of equal importance (e.g., and, but)
  • Subordinating conjunctions: connect clauses of unequal importance (e.g., because, although)

Sentence Structure

• Independent clauses: complete sentences with a subject and a predicate (e.g., I went to the store.)
• Dependent clauses: incomplete sentences that cannot stand alone (e.g., because I needed milk)
• Compound sentences: two or more independent clauses joined by a conjunction (e.g., I went to the store, and I bought milk.)
• Complex sentences: one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses (e.g., I went to the store because I needed milk.)
• Simple sentences: one independent clause (e.g., I went to the store.)

Verb Tenses

• Present tense: describes an action that is happening now (e.g., I am writing.)
• Past tense: describes an action that happened in the past (e.g., I wrote.)
• Future tense: describes an action that will happen in the future (e.g., I will write.)
• Present perfect tense: describes an action that started in the past and continues up to the present (e.g., I have written.)
• Past perfect tense: describes an action that happened before another action in the past (e.g., I had written.)
• Future perfect tense: describes an action that will be completed at a specific point in the future (e.g., I will have written.)

Other Grammar Concepts

• Active and passive voice: active voice (e.g., The dog bites the man.) vs. passive voice (e.g., The man was bitten by the dog.)
• Modal verbs: verbs that express degrees of possibility, obligation, or ability (e.g., can, should, must)
• Conditional sentences: sentences that describe hypothetical or uncertain situations (e.g., If I won the lottery, I would buy a house.)
• Clauses and phrases: groups of words that function as a single unit in a sentence

Parts of Speech

• Nouns can be proper, common, collective, or abstract
• Verbs can be action, linking, helping, transitive, or intransitive
• Adjectives modify nouns or pronouns and can be quantitative or qualitative
• Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs and can be manner, time, place, or frequency adverbs
• Pronouns replace nouns in a sentence and can be personal, possessive, or reflexive
• Prepositions show relationships between words in a sentence
• Conjunctions connect words, phrases, or clauses in a sentence and can be coordinating or subordinating

Sentence Structure

• Independent clauses are complete sentences with a subject and a predicate
• Dependent clauses are incomplete sentences that cannot stand alone
• Compound sentences join two or more independent clauses with a conjunction
• Complex sentences join one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses
• Simple sentences are one independent clause

Verb Tenses

• Present tense describes an action happening now
• Past tense describes an action that happened in the past
• Future tense describes an action that will happen in the future
• Present perfect tense describes an action that started in the past and continues up to the present
• Past perfect tense describes an action that happened before another action in the past
• Future perfect tense describes an action that will be completed at a specific point in the future

Other Grammar Concepts

• Active voice describes the doer of the action whereas passive voice describes the receiver of the action
• Modal verbs express degrees of possibility, obligation, or ability
• Conditional sentences describe hypothetical or uncertain situations
• Clauses and phrases are groups of words that function as a single unit in a sentence