Grammar

Question 1

What are the eight major parts of speech in English grammar?

Answer 1

Noun, pronoun, adjective, verb, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection.

Question 2

What are nouns?

Answer 2

They refer to people, places, or things. Even intangible or abstract concepts like ideas or thoughts are things.

Question 3

Identify the nouns in this these texts,

1. Sally doesn’t use an iPhone.
2. Jared doesn’t eat subs.
3. The Earth is not the centre of the universe

Answer 3

1. “Sally” and “iPhone.”
2. “Jared” and “subs.”
3. “Earth”
   “Centre”
   “Universe”

Question 4

What is a pronoun?

Answer 4

Pronouns are words that replace nouns : I, me, she, we, they, who, that, yours, his, her, etc.

Question 5

What do pronouns need? Explain why.

Answer 5

Pronouns need antecedents. That means that the thing (or person, or place) that the pronoun refers to needs to have been mentioned already by name somewhere earlier in the sentence or paragraph. If it’s not clear which thing the pronoun refers to, the reader can get quite confused.

Question 6

What is an adjective?

Answer 6

Adjectives are descriptive words that add detail to a sentence. They can give important or necessary information (e.g., Please hand me the ‘blue’ paper), or they can just make the sentence more interesting (e.g., A frigid wind blew around the icy town).

Question 7

What do adjectives describe? Include examples.

Answer 7

Adjectives describes nouns. “Please sew the ‘red’ dress.” “The weather is ‘hot’ and ‘humid’. The ‘stuffed’ toy is ‘fuzzy’ and ‘round’.

Question 8

What are verbs?

Answer 8

Verbs are action words : that’s a rather simplified explanation, but it’s the clearest one.

Question 9

What do verbs tell us when they are in a sentence?

Answer 9

Verbs tell you what the subject of the sentence is up to.

Question 10

Identify the verbs in these sentences.

1. He ran into the wall.
2. She buys new shoes.
3. The cat licks its fur.

Answer 10

1. “Ran.”
2. “Buys.”
3. “Licks.”

Question 11

What are adverbs?

Answer 11

Adverbs describe verbs, adjectives, or even a whole sentence.

Question 12

What do adverbs look like?

Answer 12

Adverbs often end with the suffix -ly (e.g., badly, hungrily), but some look the same as their adjective forms (e.g., the word fast is used as both an adjective and adverb).

Question 13

What are prepositions?

Answer 13

Prepositions are little words that tell where or when (among other things) something is. A word or group of words used before a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase to show direction, time, place, location, spatial relationships, or to introduce an object.

Question 14

What are examples of prepositions.

Answer 14

“In, at, on, of, to.” - Highly idiomatic.

Question 15

Identify the preposition(s) in this sentence. “The monkey is on his back.”

Answer 15

“On” is the preposition.

Question 16

What are conjunctions?

Answer 16

Conjunctions are words like “and, but, or,” that connect concepts, clauses, or parts of sentences.

Question 17

Identify the conjunction(s) in this sentence. “I wanted to meet her there on time, but I got stuck in traffic.

Answer 17

“But” is the conjunction.

Question 18

What are interjections?

Answer 18

Interjections are words like ‘wow’ and ‘yay’. They’re sounds we make to convey extreme emotion or to create emphasis when we’re talking, sometimes when we can’t think of a good way to express ourselves. They require a great deal of context to be understood.

Question 19

Why do interjections require a great deal of context to be understood?

Answer 19

They require a great deal of context to be understood.

E.g. ‘Hey’ can mean ‘hello’, or that’s great, or stop doing that.
Hey! How’s it going?
Wow! Those fireworks are impressive.

Question 20

What are the verb tenses?

Answer 20

Verbs come in past, present, and future tenses.

Question 21

What do the past tense verbs describe?

Answer 21

The past is used to describe things that have already happened (e.g., earlier in the day, yesterday, last week, three years ago).

Question 22

What do the present tense verbs describe?

Answer 22

The present tense is used to describe things that are happening right now, or things that are continuous.

Question 23

What do the future tense verbs describe?

Answer 23

The future tense describes things that have yet to happen (e.g., later, tomorrow, next year, three years from now).

Question 24

Identify the verb in this text and what tense it is. “I lived here when I was ten.”

Answer 24

The verb is “lived.” The verb tense is past tense.

Question 25

Identify the verb and the verb tense in this sentence. “I live here now.”

Answer 25

The verb is “live.” The verb tense is present tense.

Question 26

Identify the verb and the verb tense in this sentence. “I will live there when I am retired.”

Answer 26

The verb is “will live.” The verb tense is future tense.

Question 27

What is the ‘Subject-Verb Agreement?”

Answer 27

Singular subjects take singular verbs and plural subjects take plural verbs. (In this example, the subject is in quotation and the verbs are in all capital).

My “brother” IS a doctor.
My “parents” ARE yoga teachers.

Question 28

What is the “Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement?”

Answer 28

When a pronoun replaces a noun, the noun is called an antecedent. (E.g., On ‘Michael’s’ first day of work, ‘he’ was a little nervous). ‘Michael’ is the antecedent and ‘he’ is the pronoun.

Question 29

What is the “Subjunctive Mood?”

Answer 29

The subjunctive is a form verbs can take to express conditions that are hypothetical or not true. It’s not a verb tense. The subjunctive form usually uses the third-person form of the verb with the -s dropped.

Question 30

How to use the verb “to be” in the subjunctive?

Answer 30

Thepresent tense is ‘be’ and the past tense is ‘were’.

Question 31

When should we use the subjunctive mood?

Answer 31

The subjunctive is used with certain expressions that imply a good or bad quality or an imperative. Often, the subjunctive verb is preceded by the word (as in the phrases “it is best that,” and “it is essential that”).

Question 32

What does the subjunctive mood express?

Answer 32

The subjunctive mood can express conditions that are not true : “If I ‘were’ queen for a day, I would eat cake for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It can express hypothetical situations. It can be used to express commands or demands. It can express suggestions.

Question 33

What is an Oxford comma?

Answer 33

An Oxford comma is the comma used before ‘and’ when listing words. E.g., I ate eggs, bacon, and toast.