Parts Of Speech
Adverbs-
An adverb modifies a noun, adjective or another adverb. An adverb answers the questions: When, where, how, and how many. An adverb can be found in different parts of a sentence. For example: "The students run quickly." or "Quickly, the students run." or "The students quickly run."
The following examples show how an adverb modifies another word.
"I spoke very softly." In this example the adverb, softly, modifies the verb, spoke. Softly shows how I spoke.
"The fast cat, climbed up a tree." In this example the adverb, fast, modifies the noun, cat. Fast shows how the cat climbed up the tree.
"The teacher wrote very slowly." In this example the adverb, very, modifies the other adverb, slowly.
"Sadly, the girl had to move away." In this example the adverb, sadly, modifies the whole sentence. Sadly shows how this person feels about the girl moving.
Conjunctive adverbs join together two clauses. If an adverb joins together two independent clauses, it has to do so with a semicolon and then with a comma.
The examples below show the uses of conjunctive adverbs.
"The boy had his rainy birthday at a ski lodge; consequently, they decided to shut off the lifts for a week."
"His mother, however, threw the party anyway."
Adjectives-
Adjectives are words that describe a noun or a pronoun. An adjective can come before or after a noun or pronoun. An adjective identifies, quantifies, and describes nouns or pronouns. For example: "The girl had colorful mittens."
If an adjective comes after a noun or pronoun, it most often has a linking verb before it. For example: "The fish is silly." "Is" is the linking verb. "Silly" is the adjective.
Adjectives are usually before a noun or pronoun.
The following examples show how an adjective describes a noun or pronoun.
"The boy wanted blueberry muffins." In this example the adjective, blueberry, describes the noun, muffins. Blueberry shows which kind of muffin.
"She had a pretty shirt." In this example the adjective, pretty, describes the noun, shirt. Pretty shows what kind of shirt.
This type of adjective shows how many or how much.
These are some examples:
"The girl had four dogs." In this example the adjective, four, shows how many dogs she had.
"The boy ate six hot-dogs." In this example the adjective, six, shows how many hot-dogs he ate.
Demonstrative adjectives tell you which one. Here are the demonstrative adjectives: This, that, these, those
Here are some examples:
"Can you hand me those markers?" In this example the demonstrative adjective, those, shows which markers.
"Did you see that man?" In this example the demonstrative adjective, that, shows what man.
Proper adjectives are like proper nouns, except that they describe a noun or pronoun.
These are some examples:
American
Canadian
European
This is how you would use them in a sentence:
"At the restaurant I ordered Canadian soup." In this example the proper adjective, Canadian, describes the noun, soup. Canadian shows what kind of soup.
"I like American food." In this example the proper adjective, American, describes the noun, food. American shows what kind of food.
"I like European traditions." In this example the proper adjective, European, describes the noun, traditions. European shows what kind of tradition.
"The" is an article. "The" tells you "which one." For example: "The girl ate watermelon." "The" tells you which girl.
Nouns and Pronouns-
Nouns are a person, place, thing, or idea. For example: "I am at a restaurant with Jimmy."
These are some examples:
"Last week, Sara and I went for a walk on the beach." In this example the noun, week, is an idea. Sara, is a person. Beach, is a place.
"This year Thomas is determined to go on a roller coaster." In this example the noun, year, is an idea. Thomas, is a person. Roller coaster is a thing.
Proper nouns are nouns that are a place or a person, that is always capitalized. In the sentences above the proper nouns are: Sara and Thomas.
These are some more examples of proper nouns:
"I live in America." The proper noun, America, is a place.
"My best friend is Rachael." The proper noun, Rachael, is a person.
There are also possessive nouns. Possessive nouns are nouns that are changed to show ownership.
Here are some examples:
"Those are my brother's shoes." In this example the possessive noun is brother's. Brother's modifies the noun, shoes, to show that they are his.
"The girl's hair was very shiny." In this example the possessive noun is girl's. Girl's modifies the noun, hair, to show that it is hers.
Pronouns are words that replace a noun. For example: "Sally is pretty." Instead you could say: "She is pretty."
These are some examples:
"She got her report card." In this example the pronouns are: She and her. She and her could replace the nouns: Haley and Haley's.
"He wanted it." In this example the pronouns are: He and It. He and It could replace the nouns: Joseph and smoothie.
Demonstrative pronouns are: This, that, these those.
Here are some examples:
"That was delicious!" In this example the demonstrative pronoun, that, replaces the noun brownies.
"How did you eat those?" In this example the demonstrative pronoun, those, replaces the noun jalepeños.
When you use pronouns in sentences like this: "We football players love to go to the movies." and you don't know which pronouns to use, this should help. Take out the other noun in the sentence, and then put in the pronoun you think is right. If it sounds right then it should be right. For example:
"____ gardeners weeded the whole garden today." Take out the noun gardeners and then put in the pronoun "We." It should sound like this:
"We weeded the whole garden today." If it sounds right put the noun back in. You should end up with a sentence like this:
"We gardeners weeded the whole garden today."
Verbs-
Verbs are action words. They show action. For example: "I love swimming."
Here are some more examples:
"I am skiing on Catamount." In this example the verb is skiing. Skiing shows what this person is doing.
"I can't wait to go tubing." In this example the verb is tubing. Tubing shows what this person will do.
"My friend was here." In this example the verb is was. "Was" is the past-tense of is.
Linking verbs are a state that a person or a thing exists, but do not show action. These are some linking verbs: be, am, is, are, was, were. For example: "They are big." "She is my friend."
Helping verbs "help" the action verb to express action. The following are some helping verbs: Am, is, are, was, have, be, has, does, can, could, do, did, should etc.
A verb phrase is a main verb with one or more helping verbs. For example: "She had been swimming." The bold-faced words are the helping verbs and the underlined word is the main verb in the sentence. The bold-faced and the underlined words together make up a verb phrase.
Remember: Not is not a verb and never is never a verb. For example: "I will never eat pumpkin." The "Will" and "Eat" make a verb phrase, but never is not part of the verb phrase. Remember, just because a word like "not" or "never" splits up a verb phrase like the one above, it is still a verb phrase.
An adverb modifies a noun, adjective or another adverb. An adverb answers the questions: When, where, how, and how many. An adverb can be found in different parts of a sentence. For example: "The students run quickly." or "Quickly, the students run." or "The students quickly run."
The following examples show how an adverb modifies another word.
"I spoke very softly." In this example the adverb, softly, modifies the verb, spoke. Softly shows how I spoke.
"The fast cat, climbed up a tree." In this example the adverb, fast, modifies the noun, cat. Fast shows how the cat climbed up the tree.
"The teacher wrote very slowly." In this example the adverb, very, modifies the other adverb, slowly.
"Sadly, the girl had to move away." In this example the adverb, sadly, modifies the whole sentence. Sadly shows how this person feels about the girl moving.
Conjunctive adverbs join together two clauses. If an adverb joins together two independent clauses, it has to do so with a semicolon and then with a comma.
The examples below show the uses of conjunctive adverbs.
"The boy had his rainy birthday at a ski lodge; consequently, they decided to shut off the lifts for a week."
"His mother, however, threw the party anyway."
Adjectives-
Adjectives are words that describe a noun or a pronoun. An adjective can come before or after a noun or pronoun. An adjective identifies, quantifies, and describes nouns or pronouns. For example: "The girl had colorful mittens."
If an adjective comes after a noun or pronoun, it most often has a linking verb before it. For example: "The fish is silly." "Is" is the linking verb. "Silly" is the adjective.
Adjectives are usually before a noun or pronoun.
The following examples show how an adjective describes a noun or pronoun.
"The boy wanted blueberry muffins." In this example the adjective, blueberry, describes the noun, muffins. Blueberry shows which kind of muffin.
"She had a pretty shirt." In this example the adjective, pretty, describes the noun, shirt. Pretty shows what kind of shirt.
This type of adjective shows how many or how much.
These are some examples:
"The girl had four dogs." In this example the adjective, four, shows how many dogs she had.
"The boy ate six hot-dogs." In this example the adjective, six, shows how many hot-dogs he ate.
Demonstrative adjectives tell you which one. Here are the demonstrative adjectives: This, that, these, those
Here are some examples:
"Can you hand me those markers?" In this example the demonstrative adjective, those, shows which markers.
"Did you see that man?" In this example the demonstrative adjective, that, shows what man.
Proper adjectives are like proper nouns, except that they describe a noun or pronoun.
These are some examples:
American
Canadian
European
This is how you would use them in a sentence:
"At the restaurant I ordered Canadian soup." In this example the proper adjective, Canadian, describes the noun, soup. Canadian shows what kind of soup.
"I like American food." In this example the proper adjective, American, describes the noun, food. American shows what kind of food.
"I like European traditions." In this example the proper adjective, European, describes the noun, traditions. European shows what kind of tradition.
"The" is an article. "The" tells you "which one." For example: "The girl ate watermelon." "The" tells you which girl.
Nouns and Pronouns-
Nouns are a person, place, thing, or idea. For example: "I am at a restaurant with Jimmy."
These are some examples:
"Last week, Sara and I went for a walk on the beach." In this example the noun, week, is an idea. Sara, is a person. Beach, is a place.
"This year Thomas is determined to go on a roller coaster." In this example the noun, year, is an idea. Thomas, is a person. Roller coaster is a thing.
Proper nouns are nouns that are a place or a person, that is always capitalized. In the sentences above the proper nouns are: Sara and Thomas.
These are some more examples of proper nouns:
"I live in America." The proper noun, America, is a place.
"My best friend is Rachael." The proper noun, Rachael, is a person.
There are also possessive nouns. Possessive nouns are nouns that are changed to show ownership.
Here are some examples:
"Those are my brother's shoes." In this example the possessive noun is brother's. Brother's modifies the noun, shoes, to show that they are his.
"The girl's hair was very shiny." In this example the possessive noun is girl's. Girl's modifies the noun, hair, to show that it is hers.
Pronouns are words that replace a noun. For example: "Sally is pretty." Instead you could say: "She is pretty."
These are some examples:
"She got her report card." In this example the pronouns are: She and her. She and her could replace the nouns: Haley and Haley's.
"He wanted it." In this example the pronouns are: He and It. He and It could replace the nouns: Joseph and smoothie.
Demonstrative pronouns are: This, that, these those.
Here are some examples:
"That was delicious!" In this example the demonstrative pronoun, that, replaces the noun brownies.
"How did you eat those?" In this example the demonstrative pronoun, those, replaces the noun jalepeños.
When you use pronouns in sentences like this: "We football players love to go to the movies." and you don't know which pronouns to use, this should help. Take out the other noun in the sentence, and then put in the pronoun you think is right. If it sounds right then it should be right. For example:
"____ gardeners weeded the whole garden today." Take out the noun gardeners and then put in the pronoun "We." It should sound like this:
"We weeded the whole garden today." If it sounds right put the noun back in. You should end up with a sentence like this:
"We gardeners weeded the whole garden today."
Verbs-
Verbs are action words. They show action. For example: "I love swimming."
Here are some more examples:
"I am skiing on Catamount." In this example the verb is skiing. Skiing shows what this person is doing.
"I can't wait to go tubing." In this example the verb is tubing. Tubing shows what this person will do.
"My friend was here." In this example the verb is was. "Was" is the past-tense of is.
Linking verbs are a state that a person or a thing exists, but do not show action. These are some linking verbs: be, am, is, are, was, were. For example: "They are big." "She is my friend."
Helping verbs "help" the action verb to express action. The following are some helping verbs: Am, is, are, was, have, be, has, does, can, could, do, did, should etc.
A verb phrase is a main verb with one or more helping verbs. For example: "She had been swimming." The bold-faced words are the helping verbs and the underlined word is the main verb in the sentence. The bold-faced and the underlined words together make up a verb phrase.
Remember: Not is not a verb and never is never a verb. For example: "I will never eat pumpkin." The "Will" and "Eat" make a verb phrase, but never is not part of the verb phrase. Remember, just because a word like "not" or "never" splits up a verb phrase like the one above, it is still a verb phrase.