The Eight Great Parts of Speech
and
What is a sentence?
A Discovery Grammar Project
arranged by Mr. Chamberlain
Goals: 1.) to learn and review the parts of speech, 2.) to build a base to add on other phrase patterns, 3.) to apply this knowledge by writing creatively and descriptively, using a thematic approach.
A sentence has a subject and verb or predicate (verb plus modifiers).
Examples of sentences:
Joshua slept.
Martha dreamed.
Joshua slept late this Saturday.
Martha dreamed about mice.
Subjects are words in sentences that either “do the action,” (actions being sleeping or dreaming). So Joshua and Martha are subjects here.
The Eight Great Parts of Speech
1. Nouns
2. Adjectives
3. Verbs
4. Adverbs
5. Pronouns
6. Prepositions
7. Conjunctions
8. Interjections
Nouns
Nouns can be common or proper.
Common nouns describe a class of people, places, things, or ideas, as in man, city, team, or religion.
Proper nouns are always capitalized because they name particular people, places, things or ideas, such as Babe Ruth, New York City, Yankees, Buddhism.
Nouns
Nouns can be concrete or abstract.
Concrete nouns can be experienced by the senses, as in man, city, team, or religion.
Abstract nouns cannot be experienced by the fives physical senses. They represent ideas / concepts, such as communication, responsibility, or glory. They also can be feelings, such as joy, trust, or anger.
Nouns
These are ways to think about nouns. The categories aren’t hard and fast. For example, a concrete noun can also be common -- grass is perceivable by the senses (concrete) -- you can smell, touch, even taste grass. But it is also a class of plant (common). There are thousands of different kinds of grass, actually.
A proper noun, could also be abstract -- Christianity, for example, is a concept, but it’s a particular religion, so it’s also proper -- and capitalized. See how these are descriptive terms?
Nouns are person, places, things, or ideas. Write a sentence with four nouns.
persons: swimmers Michael Phelps man
places ocean Pacific Ocean island
things: sun swimsuit snail Hawaii
ideas: happiness
collective: flock herd school pack
Collective nouns represent a group, but take a singular verb. The flock is there. The pack is circling the deer. (not “are”)
Your sentence with 4 nouns (various kinds):
Write sentences with different nouns using a theme. Put all nouns in bold and blue and underline the noun in question.
Sentence with a common or concrete noun:
1.
Sentence with a proper noun:
2.
Sentence with an abstract noun:
3.
Sentence with a collective noun:
4.
Adjectives...
Adjectives are descriptive words. They generally come before nouns, as in “the sparkling fountain.”
For stylistic reasons, nouns can be grouped up separately and even can be placed after nouns -- as in...
“The fountain, sparkling, clear, and musical, leapt up in the village square.” or
“Sparkling, clear, and musical, the fountain leapt up in the village square.”
Adjectives
Sometimes adjectives describe the subject but follow the verb, as in “The sky was blue.” These are called “predicate adjectives” -- they modify the subject (a noun or pronoun) but are in the predicate -- that is, they follow the verb.
Examples: “Mr. Doofensmirtz was -- long ago -- tall, dark, and handsome. Now he is scrawny, bald, and not-so-handsome.” Notice how when several words work together as an adjective, they are hyphenated.
Adjectives describe nouns or pronouns, answering what kind, which one, how many, and whose. Write a sentence with four or more adjectives.
what kind: bright, huge, sparkling, Hawaiian
which one: this, that, these, those
how many: ten, ninety, several, both, many
whose: my, your, his, her, our, their (also pronouns)
Your sentence(s) with 4 adjectives (several types):
Some of these Australian marbles look a lot like your green marbles.
Write a descriptive paragraph on a theme with 20 adjectives.
....
Verbs
Verbs are often action words, as in “Joe hit the ball.” Verbs connect the doer / agent of the action -- the subject “Joe” -- with the object, which would be “ball.” We will color verbs red.
Verbs can also be in a phrase of up to 4 words. A verb phrase has a main verb at the end, and one or more helping verbs (italicized)
“The cat was purring.” (2 word verb phrase) “The storm might be starting soon.” (3 words) “Sarah could have been dreaming.” (4 words)
Verbs have tenses, such as past, present, or future tenses.
Action or main verbs: dive, grow, eat, ate, swim, swam,
swimming
Being verbs: am, is, are, was, were, be, been
Helping verbs: will, would, / can, could, / shall, should, /
may, might, must, / have, has, had, / do, did, does
Your three sentences with an action verb, being verb, and a verb phrase:
action: Michael Jordan shoots hoops.
Michael Jordan went to North Carolina for college.
being: Michael Jordan is 50 years old.
verb phrase: Even now, Michael still does practice basketball.
Verbs have tenses, such as past, present, or future tenses.
Action or main verbs: dive, grow, eat, ate, swim, swam,
swimming
Being verbs: am, is, are, was, were, be, been
Helping verbs: will, would, / can, could, / shall, should, /
may, might, must, / have, has, had, / do, did, does
Your three sentences with 2, 3, and 4 word verb phrases. Put the verb phrase in red and bold. Put the helping or being verbs in italics:
1.
2.
3.
Adverbs
Adverbs are famous for how they modify verbs. But they can also modify adjectives and even other adverbs.
Adverbs are also famous for ending with -LY, as in “He ran speedily down the last bend.”
But some adverbs don’t end in -LY (as in “She ran fast.” How did she run?)
Some adjectives end in -LY (as in “It was a lovely day.” What kind of day?) So it pays to know the kind of questions that adverbs answer.
Adverbs describe verbs, adjectives or other adverbs. They often, but not always, end in -LY. They answer these questions: how, when, where, and to what degree.
How: gracefully, slowly, fast, carefully, happily
Where: here, there, outdoors, uptown
When: often, sometimes, rarely, always, never
To what degree: very, totally, somewhat, not
Sentences with lots of adverbs:
We very slowly jogged to his house afterwards.
I often get somewhat bored in school quickly.
Let’s go downtown soon together.
Pronouns
Pronouns substitute for or replace nouns. Anything a noun can do, a pronoun can do. So pronouns can represent a person, place, thing, or idea.
Examples: “Joe ran for mayor. He advocated for safer streets.” (“He” is a subject pronoun.)
“Jayne, Susie and Martha walked to their elementary school together.” (“Their” is a possessive pronoun.)
To avoid repetition, pronouns were invented. They substitute for nouns. Some personal pronouns can also be used as adjectives (my house, her car, their luggage, etc.) Your reader needs to know the pronoun’s antecedent, or who/what the pronoun refers to.
These are personal pronouns in the subject form:
I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they
These are personal pronouns in the object form:
me, you, him, her, it, us, you, them
These are personal pronouns in the possessive form:
my, mine, your, yours, his, her, hers, our, ours, your, yours, their, theirs
Your two sentences with two subject pronouns:
Ex: Are you still interested in seeing that movie? We are.
1.
2.
To avoid repetition, pronouns were invented. They substitute for nouns. Some personal pronouns can also be used as adjectives (my house, her car, their luggage, etc.) Your reader needs to know the pronoun’s antecedent, or who/what the pronoun refers to.
These are personal pronouns in the subject form:
I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they
These are personal pronouns in the object form:
me, you, him, her, it, us, you, them
These are personal pronouns in the possessive form:
my, mine, your, yours, his, her, hers, our, ours, your, yours, their, theirs
Your two sentences with two object pronouns:
Ex: He gave her a menu and told us about the specials.
1.
2.
To avoid repetition, pronouns were invented. They substitute for nouns. Some personal pronouns can also be used as adjectives (my house, her car, their luggage, etc.) Your reader needs to know the pronoun’s antecedent, or who/what the pronoun refers to.
These are personal pronouns in the subject form:
I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they
These are personal pronouns in the object form:
me, you, him, her, it, us, you, them
These are personal pronouns in the possessive form:
my, mine, your, yours, his, her, hers, our, ours, your, yours, their, theirs
Your two sentences with two possessive pronouns:
Ex: I offered to give her my car for her use this weekend.
1.
2.
To avoid repetition, pronouns were invented. They substitute for nouns. Indefinite pronouns take singular verbs. Your reader needs to know the pronoun’s antecedent, or who/what the pronoun refers to.
These are indefinite pronouns; they make look plural, but they take a single verb: one body thing
any anyone, anybody, anything
every everyone, everybody, everything
some someone, somebody, something
no no one, nobody, nothing
Your two sentences with two indefinite pronouns:
Ex: Everyone is just hoping that somebody will start.
1.
2.
Indirect Object
While the DO receives the verb’s action, the IO
is “To or for whom something is done.”
I gave him the shirt. He gave me money.
She asked him a question.
He swam across the lake. (does not contain a DO or IO because it contains a prepositional phrase; it contains an OP)
He opened the door for me. (contains a prepositional phrase; has no IO but has OP)
Indirect Object
IO = To or for whom something is done.
I gave him the shirt.
He gave me money. She asked him a question.
brought bough cooked
I brought him food. He bought her a present. He cooked me a meal.
Adding Details and Modifiers (adjectives, adverbs and phrases)
We looked at the trees (tossing in the wind).
The boys ran alongside the stream.
The boys followed the giant carp into the pool.
(Running alongside the stream), the boys followed the giant carp into the pool.
Adding Details and Modifiers (participial and prepositional phrases)
The band marched in the parade.The band played music, such as Billy Jean.
The band played music, such as Billy Jean as they marched in the parade. ← complex sent.
Playing music such as Billy Jean, the band marched in the Halloween parade through the streets of Woburn.
Marching in the parade, the band played music such as Billy Jean and Beethoven’s Fifth.