MATERI AJAR

 MEETING 1

THE EIGHT PARTS OF SPEECH

There are eight parts of speech in the English language: noun, pronoun, verb, adjective,
adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection. The part of speech indicates how the word
functions in meaning as well as grammatically within the sentence. An individual word can
function as more than one part of speech when used in different circumstances. Understanding
parts of speech is essential for determining the correct definition of a word when using the
dictionary.

Parts of speech are the classes into which words are put according to their grammatical
uses. Parts of speech atau jenis-jenis kata adalah cara pengelompokan kata-kata berdasarkan
jenis atau golongannya, misalnya kata buku, meja, angin (book, table, wind) adalah kata-kata
benda (nouns), sedangkan makan, bermain, menulis (eat, play, write) adalah kata-kata kerja
(verbs).

1) NOUN

The noun is one of the most important parts of speech. Its arrangement with the verb
helps to form the sentence core which is essential to every complete sentence. In addition, it may
function as the chief or “head” word in many structures of modification.
Nouns are words that name things such as persons, animals, places, ideas, and
institutions. A noun can be the subject of a clause. Nouns are sometimes called substantives, a
term that means any word or group of words that can be used as the subject of a clause: a noun,
a pronoun, a noun phrase, a gerund, a gerund phrase or an infinitive phrase.
Kata benda atau noun adalah kata yang menunjukkan manusia (man, human being),
binatang (animal), tumbuh-tumbuhan (plant), tempat (place), nama kota (name of town, e.g. New
York), rasa senang atau kebahagiaan (happiness), rasa sakit (pain), nasihat (advice), kepeduliaan
(care), kekayaan (richness), dst.

A noun can be function as:

1. The subject of a verb: Tom arrived.

2. The complement of the verbs. be, become, seem: Tom is an actor.
3. The object of a verb: I saw Tom.
4. The object of a preposition: I spoke to Tom.
5. A noun can also be in the possessive case: Tom’s books.
 Ada beberapa penanda kata benda dalam bahasa inggris:
a. Didahului oleh kata sandang seperti: a , an, the: e.g. a girl, an umbrella, the tree.
b. Didahului oleh sebuah kata sifat e.g.: new car, expensive building, long journey.
c. Didahului kata ganti kepunyaan e.g.: my house, your key, our campus.
d. Didahului kata-kata penunjuk jumlah, e.g.: three towns, some districts, a lot of
experience.

 Types of nouns:
a. Proper nouns are names of particular people (personal name), places, or things. They are
capitalized or begins with capital letter in writing. All other nouns are common nouns.
Common nouns can be classified into:
b. Abstract nouns is a word for a concept e.g. name ideas, it is an idea that exists in our
minds only, emotions, qualities and processes: (beauty, justice, mankind, happiness, and
so on).
c. Concrete nouns is a word for a physical object that can be perceived by the senses, we
can see, touch, smell the object. Name persons or things that can be known directly
through the senses. e.g. ball, girl, chair, bread fire, smoke, ice, water and so on.
d. Collective noun is a word for a group of people, animals, or objects considered as a single
unit, or a special nouns that stand for a group of people, animals, birds, or insects.
Collective nouns take singular or plural verbs depending on whether the group acts as a
unit (singular) or a separate individuals (plura).

Some collective nouns for people are:

- (army, audience, band, brigade, choir, chorus, clan, class, congregation, group, orchestra,
patrol, police, team, troop, youth, committee, crew, crowd, enemy, faculty, family,
nation, public and so on).

Some collective nouns for animals, birds, and insects are:

- A herd of cattle, sheep, goats.

- A flock of birds, chickens
- A hive of bees
- A swarm of ants, bees, flies.

A noun is the name of a person, place, thing, idea, or quality.

Examples:  John, Mary, boy, girl, children;  class rooms, notebooks; freedom, intelligence; hope,
anger, joy. man... Butte College... house... happiness.
 A noun is a word for a person, place, thing, or idea. Nouns are often used with an article
(the, a, an), but not always. Proper nouns always start with a capital letter; common nouns do
not. Nouns can be singular or plural, concrete or abstract. Nouns show possession by adding 's.
Nouns can function in different roles within a sentence; for example, a noun can be a subject,
direct object, indirect object, subject complement, or object of a preposition.

- The young girl brought me a very long letter from the teacher, and then she quickly
disappeared. Oh my!. 

A noun is a word used to name something: a person/animal, a place, a thing, or an idea.

For example, all of the following are nouns.

 Leah, Ignacio, Lan, Marek

 Japan, Venezuela, Atlanta, Kroger, the Gap
 pencil, store, music, air
 biology, theory of Relativity, Pythagorean theory

Hint: They are sometimes preceded by noun markers. Noun markers are also called determiners
and quantifiers. They are words like a, an, the, this, that, these, those, each, some, any, every, no,
numbers (1,2,3,etc.), several, many, a lot, few, possessive pronouns (his, her, etc.

 Nouns can be singular or plural.

Singular nouns name only one person, place, thing or idea.

• One apple, a pencil, the book

Plural nouns name two or more persons, places, things or ideas. Most singular nouns (Not
ALL) are made plural by adding –s. For example, (pencil is a singular noun. The word pencils is
a plural noun.)

Exception #1: If a noun ends with the –s, sh, ch, or x like the words, kiss, church, ash or
box, then they are made plural by adding –es (kisses, churches, ashes, and boxes).

Exception #2:There are also irregular nouns that do not follow any rules. For example,
the plural form of the word child is children.

 Nouns can be Proper Nouns or Common Nouns

a. Proper nouns refer to specific people, places, things and ideas.
A person's name (Leah Graham) is a proper noun, for example. Other examples are
names of places (Atlanta, Georgia) and names of things (the Navy). They are always
capitalized!
  People’s names and titles- King Henry, Mrs. Smith
 Names for deity, religions, religious followers, and sacred books- God, Allah, Buddha,
Islam, Catholicism, Christians
 Races, nationalities, tribes, and languages- African American, Polish-American, Black,
Chinese, Russian
 Specific Places like countries, cities, bodies of water, streets, buildings, and parks
 Specific organizations- Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), ….
 Days of the week, months, and holidays,
 Brand names of products
 Historical periods, well-known events, and documents- Middle ages, Boston Tea Party,
Magna Carta
 Titles of publications and written documents

b. Common nouns are all other nouns.

For example: cat, pencil, paper, etc. They are not capitalized unless they are the first
word in the sentence.

 Nouns can also be collective.

Collective nouns are nouns that are grammatically considered singular, but include more
than one person, place, thing, or idea in its meaning. Words like team, group, jury, committee,
audience, crowd, class, troop, family, team, couple, band, herd, quartet, and society.

Generally, collective nouns are treated as singular because they emphasize the group as one
unit.

• The committee is going to make a decision.

 Nouns can also be either count or non-count.

Nouns that are non-count cannot be counted. For example:

• one cannot go outside to have two fresh airs. One goes outside for fresh air.

 Nouns can be Abstract or concrete

Concrete nouns are nouns that you can touch. They are people, places, and some things.
Words like person, court, Georgia, pencil, hand, paper, car, and door are all examples of concrete
nouns.
Abstract nouns are nouns that cannot be physically held. For example, things like air,
justice, safety, Democracy, faith, religion, etc.
  Nouns can be Gerunds
A gerund is the –ing form of the verb and is used as a noun. For example:
• Running is good for you.
• Running is the noun/gerund and is is the verb.
• My crying upset him.

Crying is the subject and upset is the verb

Note: A noun can fit into more than one of these categories. For example, the noun Angela is a
singular, concrete, count, proper noun.

2) PRONOUN

A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun.

• She... we... they... it

A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun. A pronoun is usually substituted for a
specific noun, which is called its antecedent. In the sentence above, the antecedent for the
pronoun she is the girl. Pronouns are further defined by type: personal pronouns refer to specific
persons or things; possessive pronouns indicate ownership; reflexive pronouns are used to
emphasize another noun or pronoun; relative pronouns introduce a subordinate clause; and
demonstrative pronouns identify, point to, or refer to nouns.

• The young girl brought me a very long letter from the teacher, and then she quickly
disappeared. Oh my!

A pronoun is usually a substitute for a noun. The noun is called the "antecedent" (but an
indefinite pronoun has no antecedent).

Types of Pronouns:
a. Personal pronouns:  I, mine, me; you, yours; he, his, him; she, hers, her; it, its; we, ours, us;
they, theirs, them.
b. Interrogative pronouns:  who, whose, whom, which, what
c. Relative pronouns (include):  who, who, whose, which, that;  whoever, whomever,
whichever
d. Demonstrative pronouns:  this, that, these, those
e. Indefinite pronouns (include):  all, another, any, anybody, anyone, anything, both, each,
either, everybody, everyone, everything, many, neither, nobody, no one, none, one, others,
some, somebody, someone, such
f. Intensive or reflexive pronouns:  myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves,
themselves
 A pronoun is a word that replaces a noun. They eliminate the need for repetition.

For Example:

• Instead of Emma talked to Emma's child, you might say Emma talked to her child.

Her is the pronoun. It renames the antecedent, Emma.

 There are several functions of pronouns.

 Personal Pronouns refer to specific persons or things.
Personal pronouns can act as subjects, objects, or possessives.

• Singular: I, me, you, she, her, he, him, it

• Plural: we, us, you, they, them
 I, you, she, he, it, we, and they are used as subjects of sentences.

For example:
• She knew the grammar rules very well.

 The personal pronouns that can be used as objects are:

• Me, you, him, her, it, them

For Example:
• The teacher gave all of them good grades.
• Tommy gave his poetry book to her.
• Then, Azra gave it to me.

Them, her and me are personal pronouns used as objects. They are NEVER the subjects
of the sentences.

 Possessive Pronouns indicate ownership or possession.

• Singular: my, mine, your, yours, hers, his, its
• Plural: yours, ours, theirs,

For Example: She returned my pencil to me because it was mine.

 Reflexive Pronouns name a receiver of an action who is identical to the doer of the
action.
• Singular: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself
• Plural: ourselves, yourselves, themselves
 For example: Manuela congratulated herself on her good grades.

Here, Manuela is both the doer and the receiver of the action.

Q: So, who did Manuela congratulate? A: Herself.

 Intensive Pronouns emphasize a noun or another pronoun.

• Singular: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself
• Plural: ourselves, yourselves, themselves

For Example: I saw Brad Pitt himself at the mall.

Here, himself emphasizes the antecedent, Bradd Pitt.

 Reciprocal Pronouns express shared actions or feelings. They are:

Each other, One another

For Example:
• Yan Ko and Tai help each other with their homework.
• Leon and his girlfriend dance with one another when they go clubbing.

 Indefinite Pronouns refer to non-specific persons and things.

• All, another, any, anybody, anyone, anything, both, each, either, everybody, everyone,
everything, few, many, neither, nobody, none, no one, nothing, one, several, some,
somebody, someone, something

For Example:

• Many believe that UFO’s exist, but nobody can prove it.
• No one can be sure if aliens really exist, but only few wonder if Elvis is still alive.

The underlined indefinite pronouns do not refer to any one person. They are referring to
people in general.

 Demonstrative Pronouns are also considered noun markers. They "point" towards nouns.

this, that, these those

For Example:

• That woman attends Gainesville College.

 • That points out which woman.
• The woman attends Gainesville College.

Q: Which woman? A: That woman.

 Interrogative Pronouns introduce questions.

Who, Whom, Whose, Which, What

For Example:
• Who is going on vacation? To whom will the teacher give an "A"?
• What are you doing?

 Relative Pronouns introduce dependent clauses and refers to a person or thing already
mentioned in the sentence (i.e. the antecedent).
• Who, whoever, whom, whomever, whose, which, that
For Example:
• The English that we learn in class will help us pass English 1101.

that we learn in class is the adjective clause that describes English. And, that is the relative
pronoun.

Q: Which English?

A: The English that we learn in class—as opposed to the English we learn around our
friends.

Note: Adjectives clauses modify nouns or pronouns, and usually answer one of the following
questions: Which one? What kind of? They begin with a relative pronoun or a relative adverb
(when or where).

3) VERB

A verb expresses an action or a condition (a state of being).

Examples: 
• Robert will eat the hamburger.  (action)     - Sara is happy.  (condition or state of being)
• Robert won’t eat the hamburger.                 - Sara isn’t happy.
• Will Robert eat the hamburger?                   - Is Sara happy?

A verb expresses action or being.

• jump... is... write... become
 The verb in a sentence expresses action or being. There is a main verb and sometimes one
or more helping verbs. ("She can sing." Sing is the main verb; can is the helping verb.) A verb
must agree with its subject in number (both are singular or both are plural). Verbs also take
different forms to express tense.

• The young girl brought me a very long letter from the teacher, and then she quickly
disappeared. Oh my!.

Verbs generally express action or a state of being. There are several classifications for
verbs- action verbs,/linking verbs, main verbs/auxiliary verbs, transitive/intransitive and phrasal
verbs.
1. Action verbs show action.
• He runs. He plays. They study.
2. Linking Verbs link the subject to an adjective.
• Ricky Martin is beautiful.
The linking verb is links the adjective beautiful with the subject Ricky Martin.
1. Main verbs can stand alone.
2. Auxiliary verbs, also called helping verbs, serve as support to the main verb.
The most common auxiliary verbs are:
• Have, has, had
• Do, does, did
• Be, am, is, are, was, were, being, been
• Should, could, will, would, might, can, may, must, shall, ought (to)
For example:
• Tai has run everyday.
Run is an action verb. The subject can actually "do" it.
Has is the helping verb. It helps the main verb run to be present perfect tense.

 Verbs can be transitive or intransitive.

• Transitive Verbs require a direct object in order to make sense.
For Example:
• Yolanda takes aspirin for her headaches.
Here, takes is a transitive verb since the sentence Yolanda takes has no meaning without
its direct object aspirin.

• Intransitive Verbs do not need direct objects to make them meaningful.

For Example: - Julio swims.
The verb swim has meaning for the reader without an object.
Caution: A verb can be either transitive or intransitive depending on its context.
For Example:
 • The cars race. – Here, race is intransitive. It does not need an object.
• My father races horses. – Here, races is transitive. It requires the object horses in order to
make sense.

 Verbs can be phrasal.

Phrasal verbs are made up of a verb and a preposition. The preposition gives the verb a
different meaning than it would have by itself. For example, the verb look has a different
meaning from the phrasal verb look up (in the dictionary).
Some more examples:
• call up, find out, hand in, make up, put off, turn on, write up

WARNING: The base form of a verb is called the infinitive. It is to + verb. For example, to do,
to win, to study, etc. Under no circumstance can a verb preceded by to be considered a verb.
Infinitives are not verbs.

4) ADVERB

An adverb describes a verb, adjective, or other adverb. Adverbs usually tell how (for
example: slowly), when (e.g., lately), where (e.g., there), how much (e.g., very), or why (e.g.,
therefore).

Example:  - He always chews his gum loudly.

An adverb modifies or describes a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.

• gently... extremely... carefully... well

An adverb describes or modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb, but never a

noun. It usually answers the questions of when, where, how, why, under what conditions, or to
what degree. Adverbs often end in -ly.

• The young girl brought me a very long letter from the teacher, and then she quickly
disappeared. Oh my!

An adverb is a word that modifies an action verb, an adjective or another adverb.

• The teacher carefully graded the homework.

Carefully is an adverb that modifies the action verb to grade.

• Tommy was extremely enthusiastic about doing his homework.

Extremely is an adverb that modifies the adjective enthusiastic.

• Yan Ko ran out of the classroom very quickly.

Very is an adverb that modifies the adverb quickly.

Warning: You need an adjective after linking verbs…NEVER an adverb!

For example: - Sean feels bad (guilty) when he has to leave class.

Here, bad is an adjective that modifies the proper noun Tai. It is an adjective because it follows
the linking verb to feel.

HOWEVER, verbs like look, sound, smell, feel, and taste can function as either an action verb
or a linking verb.

Sean feels badly (to the touch) after swimming in a chlorinated pool. His skin is really dry.

Here, bad is used in its adverbial form since it follows an action verb, to feel.

 Types of Adverbs:
• Relative Adverbs introduce questions and dependent adverbial clauses. They answer the
questions When? and Where? They are: When, Where
For Example:
- When I was young, I liked to play outside.

Q: When did I like to play outside? A: When I was young.

• Adverbs of Frequency indicate answer the question how often? They are: Always,
usually, often, sometimes, rarely, never
- The students in ESOL 98 always study very hard.
- They rarely forget to do their homework.

NOTE: Generally, these adverbs come before the verb; however there is an exception. In the
case of the verb to be, the adverb of frequency comes after the verb. For example:Azra is always
on time for class.
 5) ADJECTIVE

An adjective describes or limits a noun.

Examples:  tall, young, pretty, light, blue, new, white  (The tall, young, pretty girl is
wearing a light blue dress with her new white shoes.)  (NOT:  ...a light dress blue with
her new shoes white.)

Adjectives and adverbs have three degrees of comparison:  positive, comparative,

superlative. 
Examples:
- Mary has a smart child.  - Sara has a smarter child.  - Nancy has the smartest child.

- Robert is an intelligent student. - William is more intelligent than Robert.  - Kim is the
most intelligent student.

- The red car is expensive.  - The white car is less expensive.  - The blue car is the least
expensive.

- I’m a good painter.   - She’s a better painter.   - He’s the best painter.

- I’m a bad singer.  She’s a worse singer.   He’s the worst singer.

An adjective modifies or describes a noun or pronoun.

- pretty... old... blue... smart
An adjective is a word used to modify or describe a noun or a pronoun. It usually answers
the question of which one, what kind, or how many. (Articles [a, an, the] are usually classified as
adjectives.)
- The young girl brought me a very long letter from the teacher, and then she quickly
disappeared. Oh my!
An adjective modifies (describes) a noun or pronoun.
Normally in English, the adjective comes before the noun. For example:
- The smart student earned an "A".
- They also come after linking verbs. For example:
- I feel happy.

 Adjectives can be used to make comparisons.

• For most adjectives of one or two syllables, you can add –er. For example, greater, faster,
stronger.
• For adjectives longer than two syllables, you should use the word more.
 For example: - He was more intelligent than his sister was.
 Adjectives can also be used as superlatives.
• This is usually done by adding –est to the end of an adjective that is one or two syllables.
For example: - the loudest, the coolest, the smartest.
• If an adjective is three syllables or longer, you must use the words the most.
For example: - Katsu is the most intelligent person in the world!
WARNING - Never use both an –er ending and the word more or an, –est ending and the word
most.
For example: - I am the most happiest when my students learn. Instead, it should be: I am
the happiest when my students learn.
There are some irregular adjective and adverb forms. For example:

Adjective Adverb Comparing two Comparing three or

more

Bad badly Worse worst

Good Well Better Best

Little   Less Least

Much Many More Most

Punctuation Note: Adjectives are not usually capitalized unless they are the first word in a
sentence. BUT, nationalities are also adjectives and should be capitalized. For example:

- Ricky is Puerto Rican and Yeoh shin is Chinese.

These are called proper adjectives. And, like proper nouns, proper adjectives are always
capitalized in English. They are derived from proper nouns and are words like: African-
American, Vietnamese, Latino, Italian, Japanese, Korean, etc. They can also include adjectives
like Catholic, Jewish, Republican, Democrat, etc.

When they are used together, they are arranged in a certain order.
Determiner* Opinion Size Age Color Origin Material Noun

The, This Pretty Big New Blue Puerto Leather Sofa

Rican
Some Tall Thin Old Purple Wood

My Expensive Small Ancient Black Chinese Silk Scarf

 For Example:

- I saw that tall, thin, old, blue, silk scarf at the store and I bought it.
- Leon drives an expensive old Italian car.

You wouldn’t ordinarily use so many adjectives in just one sentence.

*Note: Determiners include articles, demonstrative pronouns, indefinite pronouns and possessive
pronouns.

6) PREPOSITION

A preposition usually  shows the relationship between a noun or pronoun and another part
of a sentence.
There are many prepositions, including:  about, above, across, after, against, along,
among, around, as, at, before, behind, below, beneath, between, beyond, beside, besides, by,
down, during, except, from, for, in, inside, into, like, near, next, of, off, on, out, out of, outside,
over, past, round, since, than, through, till, to,  toward, towards, under, underneath, unless, until,
upon, up, with, within, without.
Examples: 
- My pencil is under my desk by my foot.        
- Martha drove from Los Angles to New York.

A preposition is a word placed before a noun or pronoun to form a phrase modifying

another word in the sentence.
by... with.... about... until
(by the tree, with our friends, about the book, until tomorrow)

A preposition is a word placed before a noun or pronoun to form a phrase modifying

another word in the sentence. Therefore a preposition is always part of a prepositional phrase.
The prepositional phrase almost always functions as an adjective or as an adverb. The following
list includes the most common prepositions:
- The young girl brought me a very long letter from the teacher, and then she quickly
disappeared. Oh my!
Prepositions are words that, like conjunctions, connect a noun or pronoun to another
word in a sentence. Some common prepositions:

  
About Before Down Into Through

Above Behind During Like To

Across Below Except Of Toward

After Beneath For Off Under

Among Beside From On Up

Around Between In Over With

At By Instead of Since Without

A prepositional phrase is a group of words that begins with a preposition and ends with a
noun or pronoun. They can act as adjectives or as adverbs.

- Manuela, the student from Germany, wrote an excellent paper on the computer.

7) CONJUNCTION

A conjunction connects words, phrases, and clauses.

• Coordinate conjunctions connect words, phrases, and clauses of equal value:  and, or,
nor, but (and sometimes for).  e.g., The dog and the cat are hungry.
• Correlative conjunctions occur in pairs:  both-and, either-or, neither-nor, not only-but
also.  e.g., Both the fish and the snake are thirsty.
• Subordinate conjunctions connect unequal clauses (dependent clauses with independent
clauses). They include:  after, although, as, because, before, if, since, than, though,
unless, until, when, where, while.   e.g., After they ate, they had dessert.

A conjunction joins words, phrases, or clauses.

- and... but... or... while... because

A conjunction joins words, phrases, or clauses, and indicates the relationship between the
elements joined. Coordinating conjunctions connect grammatically equal elements: and, but, or,
nor, for, so, yet. Subordinating conjunctions connect clauses that are not equal: because,
although, while, since, etc. There are other types of conjunctions as well.

- The young girl brought me a very long letter from the teacher, and then she quickly
disappeared. Oh my!
 Conjunctions are the scotch tape of the grammatical world. They join together words and
phrases. There are three kinds of conjunctions: coordinating conjunctions, correlative
conjunctions, and subordinating conjunctions.

1. Coordinating Conjunctions

There are seven coordinating conjunctions in English. You can use the mnemonic device
fanboys to remember them.

- For
- And
- Nor
- But
- Or
- Yet
- So

They can be used with commas to create compound sentences. For example:

- Ignacio loves to dance, but Rocío has no rhythm.

- Kyong Mee works hard, yet she still earns low grades.

Note: A compound sentence is a sentence made up of two independent clauses. That is, a
compound sentence is simply two complete sentences joined by a comma and a coordinating
conjunction (i.e. a fanboys).

2. Correlative Conjunctions also join ideas, but they work in pairs. They are:

- Both…and
- neither…nor
- whether…or
- either…or
- not only…but also

For Example:

- Not only am I happy about the grades, but I am also excited that you are learning!

3. Subordinating Conjunctions join an independent clause to a subordinate clause. That is,

they join a clause that can stand alone with a clause that cannot stand alone. Some
frequently used subordinating conjunctions are:
 - after, although, as, as if, because, before, even if, even though, if, since, so that, though,
unless, until, when, whenever, where, wherever, whether, while.

For Example:

- Although the students were tired, they still came to class.

8) INTERJECTION

An interjection is a word that expresses feeling or emotion; usually it is followed by an

exclamation mark.

Examples:  Oh!  Ah!  Wow!  Darn!  Gosh!  Golly!  Gee!  Ow!  Ouch!  Yikes!  Holy moly! 
Yippee!  Hooray!  Boo!   Whew!    

• An interjection is a word used to express emotion.

- Oh!... Wow!... Oops!

An interjection is a word used to express emotion. It is often followed by an exclamation

point.

- The young girl brought me a very long letter from the teacher, and then she quickly
disappeared. Oh my!

Other explanation:

Interjections are words used to express emotional states. They can usually be found in
narrative writing, interviews, and in spoken English. They can stand alone. For example:

- Oh!, wow!, Ouch! Oops! Hey!

Punctuation Note: They are punctuated with either commas or exclamation marks. Mild
interjections are followed by a comma, but stronger interjections are punctuated with an
exclamation mark (!) .

- Oh, we’re late for the movie.

Generally, the movies is not an important destination. Therefore, the person making this
statement will sound less urgent than the next example.

- Oh! I’m late for work.

 Work, unlike the movies, is generally considered a very important destination. If one
doesn’t arrive on time, there is the possibility of being fired or of losing face. Here, the speaker
will have a greater sense of urgency.
 
Generally, you do not find interjections in academic writing.
 
9) ARTICLES

- the, a, and an.  

Q: What do articles do in a sentence?

A: Articles signal that a noun is going to follow.

Example:

 Who invented the telephone? The wheel?

The refrigerator? The airplane?

 A cat was chasing a mouse in my back yard.

Modifiers (adjectives & adverbs) can appear between an article and a noun.

Examples:

• A sunset.
• A spectacular sunset.
• An exceptionally spectacular sunset.

The indefinite article ‘a’ can only appear before nouns that begin with a consonant
sound: a hand, a book, a world, a computer…
The indefinite article ‘an’ can only appear before nouns that begin with a vowel sound: an
apartment, an hour, an article…
 
 General Rules for the Use of Articles:
a) Use a/an with singular count nouns whose specific identity is not known to the reader
either because it is being mentioned for the first time, or because its specific identity is
unknown even to the writer.
Examples:
• Julia arrived in a limousine. (a = one among many. Not a specific one.)
• We’re looking for an apartment. (an = any one.)
b) Do not use a/an with non-count nouns. Only use a/an with non-count nouns if you add a
count noun in front of the non-count noun.
Example:
• Ana asked her mother for an advice.
• Ana asked her mother for a piece of advice.

c) Use the with most nouns whose specific identity is known to the reader because:

1. the noun has been previously mentioned:

- Yesterday I saw a group of ESL students. The students were playing with a ball. The ball
was white and blue. The ball rolled into a hole. The hole was small.

2. the noun is made specific by a superlative:

- I bought the fastest computer they had.

3. the noun describes a unique person, place, or thing:

o Please give this to the manager.
o The sun is bright today.
o Rain is falling heavily in theNorth.

4. the context or situation makes the noun’s identity clear:

o Please don’t slam the door when you leave.
o Bob warned me that the dog playing in his yard is very affectionate and jumps on every
person it meets.

d) Do not use the with plural or non-count nouns meaning "all" or "in general" (i.e. generic
reference nouns). Do not use the with most singular proper nouns.
o The fountains are an expensive element of landscape design.
o In some parts of the world, the rice is preferred to all other grains.

e) Do not use articles with other noun markers or determiners, i.e. possessive nouns
(Helen’s) ; and some pronouns (his, her, its, ours, their, whose, this, that, these, those, all,
any, each, either, every, few, many, more, most, much, neither, several, some).

Exceptions:

- All the…
- A few…
- The most…
Examples:

• The Helen’s book is on the floor.

• A this book belongs to Trung.

A final caution- A word can be more than one part of speech. For example:

- I sat on the sofa.

Above, sofa is used as a noun (object of the preposition).
- I slept on the sofa bed.
But, here sofa is used as an adjective to modify the noun bed.
And, native speakers often take poetic license with words in conversation. For example:
- It’s Sofa city for you!
Here, sofa acts as an adjective to describe the noun city. The meaning of the sentence is that the
person will have to sleep on the sofa, not a bed.