1. Parts of Speech

Question 1

What is a noun?

Answer 1

The name of a thing, place or person.

Question 2

What are the four types of noun?

Answer 2

Concrete/common, proper, collective and abstract.

Question 3

Define a concrete/common noun.

Answer 3

A physical thing - usually something you can see or touch.

examples: apple, key, lake, orange, tin, zoo.

Question 4

Define a proper noun.

Answer 4

A proper noun always begins with a capital letter. It is the name of a person, a place or an institution.

examples: Alasdair, Buckingham Palace, Christopher, River Thames, The Royal Navy, Ben Nevis

Question 5

Define a collective noun.

Answer 5

A collective noun refers to a group of objects, animals or people. It is a singular word but most collective nouns can be made plural.

• examples:*
• choir choirs*
• flock flocks*
• orchestra orchestras*
• team teams*

Question 6

Define an abstract noun.

Answer 6

An abstract noun cannot be seen or touched. It can be a feeling, a state of mind, a quality, an idea, an occasion or a particular time.

examples: anger, month, peace, beauty, night, pregnancy, darkness, health, summer, happiness, patience, war

Question 7

How can abstract nouns be formed from adjectives?

Answer 7

Sometimes, by adding the suffix ‘-ness’:

examples: bright - brightness, dark - darkness, kind - kindness, ill - illness, sad - sadness, ugly - ugliness

Sometimes in other ways:

examples: high - height, patient - patience, pleasant - pleasure, wide - width, wonderful - wonder

Question 8

When are capital letters used? (5)

Answer 8

1. Proper nouns and adjectives formed from proper nouns, e.g. America/American, Belgium/Belgian
2. Days of the week, months of the year
3. Titles of people, books, plays, films, magazines etc., e.g. Mrs Brown, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, A Tale of Two Cities
4. Buildings and institutions, e.g. Bristol University, Conservative Party, Guildford Cathedral, National Gallery, Surrey County Council
5. Religious words - names of religions and the members, sacred books and religious festivals, e.g. Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Christian, Muslim, Jew, Bible, Koran, Torah, Christmas, Easter, Janukka, Ramadan

Question 9

What is the subject of a sentence?

Answer 9

The main noun or pronoun in the sentence is the subject of the sentence. It performs the action. All sentences must contain a subject.

example: Fiona was very tired. (The subject of the sentence is ‘Fiona’.)

Question 10

What is the object in a sentence?

Answer 10

If there is an object in the sentence, that is also a noun or pronoun. It is usually near the end of the sentence. It has something done to it.

example: The footballer kicked the ball into the net. (The object of the sentence is ‘ball’.)

A sentence does not have to contain an object.

Question 11

Why are pronouns used?

Answer 11

To avoid the frequent use of the same noun.

Question 12

What are personal pronouns?

Answer 12

Personal pronouns take the place of nouns. They are identified as 1st, 2nd and 3rd persons, and can be used as both subject and object.

• examples:*
• It was sunny yesterday. (The subject of the sentence is ‘it’.)*
• His mother scolded him. (The object of the sentence is ‘him’.)*

Question 13

State the differences between modern and traditional 2nd person pronouns.

Answer 13

We now use ‘you’ for both singular and plural. Until the 17th century, ‘thou’ (subject) and ‘thee’ (object) were used for the 2nd person singular, and ‘ye’ (subject) and ‘you’ (object) were used for the plural.

Also used were ‘thy’ (genitive singular), ‘thine’ (possessive singular), ‘your’ (genitive plural) or ‘yours’ (possessive plural).

Question 14

Give an example of when 1st, 2nd and 3rd person pronouns are used.

Answer 14

1st: When the writer is telling his or her own story, or it is from the main character’s point of view, e.g. I was born in Yorkshire but spent most of my teenage years in Sussex.

2nd: Instructional books, such as recipe or ‘how to’ books, e.g. Mix the sauce in a saucepan and gently heat it through. (In this case the ‘you’ is ‘understood’ - ‘you’, the 2nd person, are being told what to do.)

3rd: When someone else is writing about the person, e.g. Ellen Terry was born in 1847 and became a very famous actress. She acted in many of Shakespeare’s plays. Ellen is not telling her own story so the personal pronoun used in the second sentence is ‘she’.

Question 15

What are possessive pronouns?

Answer 15

Possessive pronouns are related to personal pronouns and indicate that something ‘belongs’. They replace nouns.

Question 16

What are demonstrative pronouns?

Answer 16

Nouns can also be replaced with demonstrative pronouns. These are:

Singular - this, that

Plural - these, those

examples: This is interesting. That is not right. These are expensive. Those look delicious.

Question 17

What are interrogative pronouns?

Answer 17

Interrogative pronouns are used to ask questions.

examples:

Which do you wish to take?

Who is moving into that house?

Whose is that pencil?

Question 18

What are the three articles?

Answer 18

‘The’, ‘a’ and ‘an’

‘The’ is the definite article, placed before a specific thing

‘A’ and ‘an’ are the indefinite articles, used more generally. ‘An’ is always used before a vowel.

Question 19

What is a verb?

Answer 19

A verb is a ‘doing’ or ‘being’ word.

Doing - to write, to play, to dance, to work etc.

Being - to be. I am, we are, you are, he/she/it is, they are; I was, we were, you were, he/she/it was, they were.

Question 20

What are finite verbs?

Answer 20

Finite verbs must show tense. They can be past, present or future and are always connected to a noun or pronoun.

• examples:*
• Yesterday she was very unhappy. (past tense)*
• He plays the piano very well. (present tense)*
• Tomorrow I will go to London. (future tense)*

A finite verb can consist of more than one word. Each sentence must contain at least one finite verb.

Question 21

Describe the difference between transitive and intransitive verbs.

Answer 21

Transitive verbs are those which take an object:

He trimmed the hedge.

‘Hedge’ is the object so the verb is transitive.

Intransitive verbs do not take an object:

She dances beautifully.

There is no object so the verb is intransitive.

Question 22

Give an example of a verb that can be used both transitively and intransitively.

Answer 22

e.g.

He wrote a letter. (transitive: ‘letter’ is the object.)

She writes exquisitely. (intransitive: there is no object.)

Question 23

Name the three kinds of non-finite verbs.

Answer 23

The infinitive, the present participle and the past participle.

Question 24

What is the infinitive?

Answer 24

The infinitive is the form of the verb that has ‘to’ before it: to run, to dance, to write, to publish, to dine etc.

Question 25

What must accompany an infinitive in a sentence, and why?

Answer 25

If an infinitive is used in a sentence, there must be a finite verb as well.

A sentence: He decided to run in the London Marathon.

Not a sentence: To run in the London Marathon.

The first example is a sentence because it contains ‘decided’, a finite verb. This has a ‘person’ connected to it and is in the past tense. The second example is not a sentence because it contains only the infinitive.

Question 26

Many people consider it incorrect to ‘split’ an infinitive. How do you split an infinitive?

Answer 26

A split infinitive is when a word is placed between the ‘to’ and the verb:

It is difficult to accurately assess the data.

Arguably a better way to write this sentence is as follows:

It is difficult to assess the data accurately.

Question 27

What does the present participle always end in?

Answer 27

‘-ing’.

Question 28

How do you form a finite verb using the present participle?

Answer 28

Introduce the present participle using the auxilary verb ‘to be’. The past or present tense of this verb is used and the finite verb becomes the present progressive or past progressive tense.

• examples:*
• Ian is helping his mother. (present progressive tense)*
• I am writing a letter. (present progressive tense)*
• Julie was doing her homework. (past progressive tense)*
• They were watching the cricket. (past progressive tense)*

Question 29

What is a gerund?

Answer 29

A gerund is when the present participle is used as a noun.

examples:

Shopping is fun.

The wailing was continuous.

Question 30

How do you form a finite verb using the past participle?

Answer 30

To form a finite verb, use the past participle with the auxiliary verb ‘to have’. Either the present or the past tense of the verb ‘to have’ can be used. It depends on the context.

examples:

• She had scratched her arm.*
• He had passed his examination.*
• Ken has cooked the dinner.*
• Chris has written a letter to his mother.*

Question 31

Look at the following sentences:

• She had scratched her arm.*
• He had passed his examination.*
• Ken has cooked the dinner.*
• Chris has written a letter to his mother.*

What is different about the past participle in the fourth example, (aside from the fact that it doesn’t end in ‘ed’)?

Answer 31

The first three participles are the same as the ordinary past tense but ‘has’ or ‘had’ have been added. These are regular verbs and the past participle ends in -ed. ‘To write’ is an example of an irregular verb, and the past participle ‘written’ can only be used with the verb ‘to have’.

Question 32

Give some examples of irregular verbs, in each case stating a) the infinitive, b) the past tense and c) the past participle.

Answer 32

e.g.

Question 33

Complete this sentence:

When the verb ‘to have’ is added to the past participle, the finite verb is either the ______ ______ or the ______ _____ tense.

Answer 33

When the verb ‘to have’ is added to the past participle, the finite verb is either the present perfect or the past perfect tense.

This depends on which tense of the verb ‘to have’ has been used.

Question 34

Give examples of sentences using the present perfect tense.

Answer 34

e.g.

I have torn my skirt.

She has swum twenty lengths.

They have danced all night.

Question 35

Give examples of sentences using the past perfect tense.

Answer 35

e.g.

He had won the race.

We had promised to visit him.

They had built a new house.

Question 36

What are the perfect progressive tenses used to indicate?

Answer 36

A continuous action.

Question 37

When using a perfect progressive tense, what 3 elements does the finite verb consist of?

Answer 37

The verb ‘to have’ + the past participle of the verb ‘to be’ + the present participle of the required verb.

• examples:*
• That dog has been barking all night. (present perfect progressive)*
• She has been crying all day. (present perfect progressive)*
• He had been playing football. (past perfect progressive)*
• She had been working on the computer. (past perfect progressive).*

Question 38

What is wrong with the following sentence?

I was sat in the front row.

Answer 38

The present and past participles have been confused.

In the sentence I was sat in the front row, the verb ‘to be’ has been used with the past participle, which is incorrect.

The correct version of this sentence would be either I was sitting in the front row or I had sat in the front row.

Question 39

Why is the following not a sentence?

Running for a train.

Answer 39

• Running for a train* is not a sentence as it contains only non-finite verbs. There is no subject and no tense.
• She is running for a train* is a sentence, however.

Question 40

Which verb is the present participle used with?

Answer 40

‘To be’.

Question 41

Which verb is the past participle used with?

Answer 41

‘To have’.