Grammar Flashcards
pronoun
- A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun.
- I, me, you, he, him, she, her, it, we , us, they and them
Parsing nouns
- Common / proper
- Count / non-count
- Abstract / concrete
- Animate / inanimate
A word used in place of a noun
Pronoun
verb
expesses action or being
Primary auxiliary
be, do, have
Modal auxiliaries
can, could, may, might
Adjective
- modifies/describes a noun or pronoun
- answers the question: which one?, what kind?, how many?
Adverb
- modifies/describes a verb, an adjectie or another verb.
- often modifies by telling: how, when, where, why, under what conditions or to what degree
- often end in -ly
Preposition
Prepositions are words that connect nouns to other words so they can describe those words. Examples include ‘’at’’, ‘’in’’, ‘’on’’, ’’before’’, and ‘’after’’.
- when ‘to’ is a preposition, it is followed by -ing forms.
Noun
Nouns are words that represent persons, places, or things. Examples include ‘’boy,’’ ‘’girl,’’ ‘’cat’,’ ‘’dog’,’ ‘’grass’’, and ‘’home’’.
Gerund
Gerunds are verbals that act as nouns; they usually end in ‘’-ing’’ (as in ‘’acting,’’ the profession).
Participles
Participles are verbals that act as adjectives; they usually end in ‘’-ing’’ or ‘’-ed’’ (as in ‘’melted’’ when describing melted chocolate)
Conjunction
Conjunctions are words that connect other words or parts of sentences together. Examples include ‘’and’’, ‘’but’’, and ‘’or’’, as well as ‘’because’’ and ‘’when’’.
For And Nor But Or Yet So
Interjections
nterjections are words exclaimed to represent outbursts of emotion or pain. Examples include ‘’hello’’, ‘’ouch’’, and ‘’oh’’. Interjections are followed by commas when the feeling is mild, or by exclamation points when the feeling is strong.
Parts of speech
- nouns
- pronouns
- verbs
- adjectives
- adverbs
- prepositions
- conjunctions
- interjections
What is a phrase
A phrase is a grouping of one or more words that conveys an idea, usually about something that exists or some type of action, and may include other words that modify it. The most important word in the phrase is called its head
Types of phrases
- Noun phrase (the car)
- Verb phrase (has gone) (only verbs making up the phrase)
- Adjective phrase (very big) (word which modifies the head = always an adverb)
- Adverb phrase (very often) (word which modifies the head = always an adverb)
- Prepositional phrase (across the street) -> do not have pre-head modifiers because head word = the preposition (first word in the phrase).
Determiners
used in front of nouns to indicate whether you are referring to something specific or something of a particular type.
- Articles: a, an, the
- Ordinals: first, second, third, last, next
- Numbers: one, two, three, four, twenty, fifty, hundred
- Demonstratives: this, that, these, those
- Possessive adj: my, your, his, her, its, our, your, their
- Quantifiers: some, any, every, more, much, few, little
Personal pronoun
First person refers to the speaker(s)/writer(s) of the message: I, me, mine, myself, we, us, our, ours, ourselves.
Second person refers to the person(s) being addressed: you, your, yours, yourself, yourselves.
Third person refers to ‘third parties’ (anyone else): he, him, his, himself, she, her, herself, it,
Possessive pronoun
expresses ownership -> mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs.
demonstrative pronoun
express a contrast between ‘near’ and ‘distant’ from the speaker -> this, that, these, those.
Look at this -> object is near to us
Look at that -> object is further away from us
interrogative pronoun
ask questions about nouns -> who, whom, whose, which and what
Reflexive pronoun
always end in -self or -selves. Their job is to ‘reflect’ the meaning of a noun or pronoun elsewhere in the clause.
- 1st person reflexive pronouns: myself, ourselves
- 2nd person reflexive pronouns: yourself, yourselves
- 3rd person reflexive pronouns: himself, herself, themselves
Relative pronoun
used within the noun phrase. Their job is to link a particular kind of clause (relative clause) to the head noun of the phrase -> who, whom, whose, which, that.
