1° Año

[GRAMMAR I]
Primera Parte de las clases de Gramatica I, 2022
Grammar I
What is a word?
A word is a speech sound or a combination of sounds, or its representation in writing, that
symbolizes and communicates a meaning and may consist of a single morpheme or a
combination of morphemes.

What is a clause?
Clause: A clause is a group of words that includes a subject and a verb. (A clause functions as an
adjective, an adverb, or a noun.)

A clause contrasts with a phrase, which does not contain a subject and a verb. The distinction
between a clause and a phrase is clearer when you see them side by side:

 Anna Sings when she wakes up.

(This is a clause. It has a subject ("she") and a verb ("wakes up").)

 Anna sings in the morning.

(This is a phrase. There is no subject and no verb.)

Examples of Clauses

 During the day, Vlad slept in a coffin.

(The subject of this clause is "Vlad." The verb is "slept." "During the day" is a phrase because
there is no verb.)

 When the Moon shone, he lurked in the shadows.

(The subject of the first clause is "the Moon." The verb is "shone." The subject of the second
clause is "he." The verb is "lurked.")

 He stalked a pretty milkmaid, who lived in the neighbouring village. (The subject of the first
clause is "He." The verb is "stalked." The subject of the second clause is "who." The verb
is "lived.")
There are two types of clause:
Independent and dependent Clause

An independent clause is a clause that can stand alone as a sentence (i.e., it expresses a complete
thought).

A dependent clauses (or subordinate clause) is one that cannot stand alone as a complete
sentence (i.e., it does not express a complete thought).

Remember that a clause has a subject and a verb.

Examples of Dependent and Independent Clauses

In all examples, the independent clauses are highlighted, and the dependent clauses aren't. Also,
in each clause, the subject is underlined and the verb is in bold.

 The patrol had spotted the sniper, who was hiding in an attic.
 Do you know the butcher who went to court on Saturday?
 I am not tidying the dishes unless Peter helps.
 When it rains, the daffodils bow their heads.

Notice how the shaded clauses could all stand alone as sentences. They are independent clauses.
What is a Phrase?
A phrase is a group of words that stands together as a single grammatical unit, typically as part
of a clause or a sentence.

A phrase does not contain a subject and verb and, consequently, cannot convey a complete
thought. A phrase contrasts with a clause. A clause does contain a subject and verb, and it can
convey a complete idea.

Examples of Phrases

Let's start with a sentence that has no phrases and then build some in.

 Janet eats cakes daily.

(This sentence has no phrases. All of the parts of the sentence are single words.)

 My cousin Janet eats cakes daily.

(Now we have a phrase. It's a three-word phrase functioning as the subject of this sentence. Note
that the phrase itself does not contain its own subject and verb.)

 My cousin Janet eats cakes during the week.

(We've added another phrase. This one also has three words, but it is functioning as an adverb.)

 My cousin Janet was eating cakes during the week.

(We've added another phrase. This one has two words. It is a multi-word verb.)

 My cousin Janet was eating cream cakes from the bakery during the week.

(We've added another phrase. This one has five words. It is functioning as a direct object in this
sentence.)
What is a sentence?
Sentence: A sentence is a set of words that is complete in itself, typically containing a subject
and predicate, conveying a statement, question, exclamation, or command, and consisting of a
main clause and sometimes one or more subordinate clauses.

Sentences Structures
Simple Sentences
- Simple sentences contain no conjunction (i.e., and, but, or, etc.).

- A simple sentence contains a subject and a verb.

- It expresses a single complete thought that can stand on its own.

Examples

- Frank ate his dinner quickly.

- Peter and Sue visited the museum last Saturday.
- Are you coming to the party?

Compound Sentences
- A compound sentence has two independent clauses. An independent clause is a part of a
sentence that can stand alone because it contains a subject and a verb and expresses a complete
thought.

- Basically, a compound contains two simple sentences.

- These independent clauses are joined by a conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so).

Examples:

1. The shoplifter had stolen clothes, so he ran once he saw the police.

Both sides of the conjunction ―so‖ are complete sentences. ―The shoplifter had stolen clothes‖
can stand alone and so can ―he ran once he saw the police.‖ Therefore, this is a compound
sentence.

1. They spoke to him in Spanish, but he responded in English.

This is also a compound sentence that uses a conjunction to separate two individual clauses.
Complex Sentences
- A complex sentence is an independent clause joined by one or more dependent clauses. A
dependent clause either lacks a subject or a verb or has both a subject and a verb that does not
express a complete thought.
- A complex sentence always has a subordinator (as, because, since, after, although, when) or
relative pronouns (who, that, which).
Examples:

1. After eating lunch at The Cheesecake Factory, Tim went to the gym to exercise.

The independent clause is ‗Tim went to the gym to exercise.‖ The subordinating clause before it
is dependent on the main, independent clause. If one were to say ―after eating lunch at The
Cheesecake Factory,‖ it would be an incomplete thought.

Compound-Complex Sentences
- A compound-complex sentence has two independent clauses and at least one dependent clause.

Examples:

1. After the two soccer players lost their game, they joined their other teammates for
lunch, and they went to the movies.
If we remove the dependent clause ―after the two soccer players lost their game,‖ we have a
compound sentence. The dependent clause makes this sentence compound-complex.

1. The man believed in the system, and he knew that justice would prevail after the
murderer was sent to jail. n

The 4 English Sentence Types. (The Discourse Functions of

Sentences) (Do not confuse with the 4 types of sentence structure.)
Declarative: A declarative sentence "declares" or states a fact, arrangement or
opinion. Declarative sentences can be either positive or negative. A declarative
sentence ends with a period (.).

- I'll meet you at the train station.

- The sun rises in the East.
- He doesn't get up early.

Imperative: The imperative form instructs (or sometimes requests). The imperative
takes no subject as 'you' is the implied subject. The imperative form ends with either a
period (.) or an exclamation point (!).

- Open the door.

- Finish your homework
- Pick up that mess.
Interrogative: The interrogative asks a question. In the interrogative form, the
auxiliary verb precedes the subject which is then followed by the main verb (i.e., Are you
coming ....?). The interrogative form ends with a question mark (?).

- How long have you lived in France?

- When does the bus leave?
- Do you enjoy listening to classical music?

Exclamatory: The exclamatory form emphasizes a statement (either declarative or

imperative) with an exclamation point (!).

- Hurry up!
- That sounds fantastic!
- I can't believe you said that!
Parts of speech
There are nine parts of speech in the English language: noun, determiners, 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.

Pronouns
What is a pronoun?
Pronouns make up a small subcategory of nouns. The distinguishing characteristic of pronouns
is that they can be substituted for other nouns.

Pronouns: Classification
Personal pronouns
Personal pronouns take the place of people or things. They can be either singular or plural,
depending whether they refer to one or multiple nouns. Examples include I, me, we, and us.

A personal pronoun can be in one of three ―persons.‖ A first-person pronoun refers to the
speaker, a second-person pronoun refers to the person being spoken to, and a third-person
pronoun refers to the person being spoken of. For each of these three grammatical persons,
there is a plural as well.

Person Nominative
First singular I
Second singular you
Third singular he, she, it
First plural we
Second plural you
Third plural they

Object Pronouns
Object Pronouns - me, you, him, her, it, us, you, them serve as the object of a verb.

 Give me the book.

 He told you to come tonight.
 She asked him to help.
 They visited her when they came to New York.
 She bought it at the store.
  He picked us up at the airport.
 The teacher asked you to finish your homework.
 I invited them to a party.

Possessive adjectives
Possessive adjective shows that something belongs to someone and is always followed by a
noun. A They are my, our, your, his, her, its, and their. There‘s also an ―independent‖ form of
each of these pronouns: mine, ours, yours, his, hers, its, and theirs. Possessive pronouns are
never spelled with apostrophes.

Possessive adjectives simplify constructions that show possession of a noun.

 Jane takes pride in her outfits.

 My plane is delayed.

Possessive pronouns
Possessive pronouns - mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, yours, theirs show that something
belongs to someone. Note that the possessive pronouns are similar to possessive adjectives (my,
his, her). The difference is that the object follows the possessive adjective but does not follow
the possessive pronoun. For example: "That book is mine" (possessive pronoun) vs. "That
is my book" (possessive adjective).

 That house is mine.

 This is yours.
 I'm sorry, that's his.
 Those books are hers.
 Those students are ours.
 Look over there, those seats are yours.
 Theirs will be green.

Reflexive pronouns
Reflexive pronouns are words ending in -self or -selves that are used when the subject and the
object of a sentence are the same (e.g., I believe in myself). They can act as either objects or
indirect objects. The nine English reflexive pronouns are myself, yourself, himself, herself,
oneself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, and themselves.

Ex: Cynthia pours a cup of tea for herself every morning.

Andrew and myself will conduct today’s meeting.

Reciprocal pronouns
Reciprocal pronouns are similar to reflexive pronouns, but they involve groups of two or more
that perform the same action with one another. There are only two reciprocal pronouns: each
other (for groups of two) and one another (for larger groups).

Ex: Maria and Juan gave each other gold rings on their wedding day.

The students congratulated one another after giving practice speeches.

Relative pronouns
A relative pronoun starts a clause (a group of words that refer to a noun). Who, that,
and which are all relative pronouns. They can also serve as other types of pronouns, depending
on the sentence. For example, in ―I saw the dog that you own,‖ the relative pronoun that is the
beginning of the clause that you own, which describes the dog.

Ex: The woman who came to the door left flowers for you.

I am not sure whom this book belongs to.

Demonstrative pronouns
Demonstrative pronouns point out or modify a person or thing. There are four demonstrative
pronouns: this and that (for singular words), and these and those (for plural words).

Ex: This is ludicrous.

Is that yours?

Eat these tonight.

Throw those away.

Interrogative pronouns
Interrogative pronouns begin questions. For example, in ―Who are you?‖, the interrogative
pronoun who starts the question. There are five interrogative pronouns: who, whom,
and whose (for questions that involve people), and which and what (for questions that involve
things).

Ex: What do you want for dinner?

Which color do you prefer?

Indefinite pronouns
Like personal pronouns, indefinite pronouns refer to people or things, but they don‘t have a
specific person or thing to reference.
Examples of indefinite pronouns include some, anyone, and everything, but the most common
ones
are all, any, anyone, anything, each, everybody, everyone, everything, few, many, nobody, none,
one, several, some, somebody, and someone.

Ex: Everything is funny as long as it is happening to somebody else.

Everybody likes a kidder, but nobody lends him money.

I don't know anything about music. In my line, you don't have to.
Determiners
What are determiners?
A determiner is a word that introduces a noun. It always comes before a noun, not after,
and it also comes before any other adjectives used to describe the noun.

Articles
What Are Articles?
Articles are words that define a noun as specific or unspecific. Consider the following examples:

After the long day, the cup of tea tasted particularly good.

By using the article the, we’ve shown that it was one specific day that was long and one
specific cup of tea that tasted good.

After a long day, a cup of tea tastes particularly good.

By using the article a, we’ve created a general statement, implying that any cup of tea
would taste good after any long day.

The Definite Article

The definite article is the word the. It limits the meaning of a noun to one particular thing. For
example, your friend might ask, ―Are you going to the party this weekend?‖ The definite article
tells you that your friend is referring to a specific party that both of you know about. The
definite article can be used with singular, plural, or uncountable nouns. Below are some
examples of the definite article the used in context:

 Please give me the hammer.

 Please give me the red hammer; the blue one is too small.
 Please give me the nail.
 Please give me the large nail; it‘s the only one strong enough to hold this painting.
 Please give me the hammer and the nail.

The Indefinite Article

The indefinite article takes two forms. It‘s the word a when it precedes a word that begins with a
consonant. It‘s the word an when it precedes a word that begins with a vowel. The indefinite
article indicates that a noun refers to a general idea rather than a particular thing. For example,
you might ask your friend, ―Should I bring a gift to the party?‖ Your friend will understand that
you are not asking about a specific type of gift or a specific item. ―I am going to bring an apple
pie,‖ your friend tells you. Again, the indefinite article indicates that she is not talking about a
specific apple pie. Your friend probably doesn‘t even have any pie yet. The indefinite article
only appears with singular nouns. Consider the following examples of indefinite articles used in
context:
Please hand me a book; any book will do.
Please hand me an autobiography; any autobiography will do.

ZERO Article
"—"

In English grammar, the term zero article refers to an occasion in speech or writing where
a noun or noun phrase is not preceded by an article (a, an, or the). The zero article is also known
as the zero determiner.

I need a bowl of rice. ← indefinite article

I like the rice in this restaurant. ← definite article

I eat rice every day. ← ZERO article

The ZERO article usually occurs in the following cases:

ZERO Article with Plural and Uncountable Nouns

General meaning

 cars, people
 life, water

Abstract nouns
 education, happiness, music

ZERO Article with Singular Countable Nouns

Names

 People: Mary, Bill, Josef

 Places: Jupiter, Russia, Bangkok, Heathrow Airport, Cambridge University, Waterloo Station
 Streets: Oxford Street, Wall Street, Picadilly Circus
 Languages: English, Russian
 Academic subjects: History, Law, Physics
 Days, months: Monday, November

Games and Sports

 football, chess

Meals

 breakfast, lunch, dinner

Noun + Number

 platform 3, room 7, page 44

Routine Places
 in bed, at home, to school, to work

Movement or Transport
 on foot, by car, by bus, by air

Newspaper Headlines, Notices, User Guides

 Plane Crashes On House, Keep Area Clean, Insert battery

Example Sentences
Here are some example sentences showing the ZERO article in context.

 Cars can be dangerous.

 We seldom see courage like that.

 I could see clouds in the sky.

 There was milk on the doorstep.

 I gave it to Mary.

 She arrived in Bangkok yesterday.

 Do you speak French?

 People will travel to Mars soon.

 He is in room 45.

 Please turn to page 67.

 She's in bed.

 Are you at home?

 They took her to hospital.

 I'm leaving town tomorrow by car.

 I go to school by bus.

 We usually meet on Monday.

 November is quite cold.

 Adjectives
What Are Adjectives?

Adjectives are words that describe the qualities or states of being of nouns: enormous, doglike,
silly, yellow, fun, fast. They can also describe the quantity of nouns: many, few, millions, eleven.

Adjectives Modify Nouns

Most students learn that adjectives are words that modify (describe) nouns. Adjectives do not
modify verbs or adverbs or other adjectives.

 Margot wore a beautiful hat to the pie-eating contest.

 Furry dogs may overheat in the summertime.
 My cake should have sixteen candles.
 The scariest villain of all time is Darth Vader.

In the sentences above, the adjectives are easy to spot because they come immediately before
the nouns they modify.

Attributive and predicative adjectives (position of adjectives in a

sentence)
Most adjectives can be used in two positions. When they are used before the noun they describe,
they are called attributive:

 a black cat
 a gloomy outlook
 a slow journey
 a large suitcase

When they are used after a verb such as be, become, grow, look, or seem, they‘re
called predicative:

 The cat was black.

 The future looks gloomy.
 The journey seemed slow.
 They were growing tired.

Gradable and Ungradable adjectives

Gradable adjectives
Many adjectives describe qualities that can be measured in degrees, such as size, beauty, age, etc. These adjectives are
often called gradable adjectives, because they can be used in comparative or superlative forms, or with grading
adverbs such as very or extremely, to show that a person or thing has more or less of a particular quality. The
following are some examples of common gradable adjectives used with grading adverbs:

Examples:
  Don’t talk to Jenny, she’s very angry.
 Sorry, I can’t stop, I’m extremely busy.
 I’m worried about Tom, he’s dreadfully unhappy.
 This is a very important matter.
 That slice of cake is rather big.

Non-gradable adjectives

Some adjectives describe qualities that are completely present or completely absent. They do not
occur in comparative and superlative forms, and cannot be used with adverbs such as very or
extremely, because we don‘t usually imagine degrees of more or less of the quality being
described. They are referred to as non-gradable adjectives. Non-gradable adjectives do
sometimes occur with non-grading adverbs such as completely which emphasize the extent of
the quality.

examples:

 The questions were completely impossible.

 The food was absolutely superb.

Adjectives which identify something as belonging to a particular type, sometimes referred to as

classifying adjectives, are also non-gradable:

 The questions were completely impossible.

 The food was absolutely superb.

Inherent and non-inherent adjectives

Sometimes a distinction is made between adjectives that describe an inherent property of a noun
and those that do not.

Inherent adjectives
Inherent adjectives describe some inherent or intrinsic quality of a noun, e.g.

 a new bike
 a wooden bench
 a paper plate

There is a direct characterization of the noun: the bike itself is new; the bench is made of wood –
hence it is actually wooden; the plate is manufactured from paper – it is actually a plate made of
paper.

Non-inherent adjectives
In contrast, non-inherent adjectives do not directly characterize a noun, e.g.

 a new friend
 a wooden actor
  a paper tiger

There is nothing about the friend that makes him or her intrinsically new, the actor is not
actually made of wood, and the tiger is not actually made of paper. The non-inherent adjectives
in this instance are being used metaphorically.
Nouns
What is a noun?
A noun is a part of speech (or word class) that names or identifies a person, place, thing, quality,
idea, or activity. Most nouns have both a singular and plural form, can be preceded by
an article and/or one or more adjectives, and can serve as the head of a noun phrase.

A noun or noun phrase can function as a subject, direct object, indirect object, complement,
appositive, or object of a preposition. In addition, nouns sometimes modify other nouns to
form compound nouns.
To understand how to recognize and use nouns, it's helpful to learn about the different types of
nouns in English.

Types of nouns
Common Noun
A common noun names any person, place, thing, activity, or idea. It's a noun that is not the name
of any particular person, place, thing, or idea. A common noun is one or all of the members of a
class, which can be preceded by a definite article, such as the or this, or an indefinite article,
such as a or an. Examples of common nouns are sprinkled throughout these two sentences:

"Plants rely on the wind, birds, bees, and butterflies — and other pollinating insects — to
transfer pollen from flower to flower. Some of our 'other' pollinating insects are flies,
wasps, and beetles."

Note how all of the bolded words are common nouns, which make up the vast majority of nouns
in English.

Proper Noun
A proper noun names specific or unique individuals, events, or places, and may include real or
fictional characters and settings. Unlike common nouns, most proper nouns, like Fred, New
York, Mars, and Coca-Cola, begin with a capital letter. They may also be referred to as proper
names for their function of naming specific things. An example would be this famous movie
line:
"Houston, we have a problem."
- "Apollo 13"

In the sentence, the word Houston is a proper noun because it names a specific place, while the
word problem is a common noun, which expresses a thing or idea.
Concrete and Abstract Nouns
A concrete noun names a material or tangible object or phenomenon — something
recognizable through the senses, such as chicken or egg.

An abstract noun, by contrast, is a noun or noun phrase that names an idea, event, quality or
concept — courage, freedom, progress, love, patience, excellence, and friendship. An abstract
noun names something that can't be physically touched. According to "A Comprehensive
Grammar of the English Language", abstract nouns are "typically nonobservable and
nonmeasurable.‖

Collective Noun
A collective noun (such as team, committee, jury, squad, orchestra, crowd,
audience, and family) refers to a group of individuals. It is also known as a group noun.
In American English, collective nouns usually take singular verb forms and can be replaced by
both singular and plural pronouns, depending on their meaning.

Count and Mass Nouns

A count noun refers to an object or idea that can form a plural or occur in a noun phrase with
an indefinite article or with numerals. Most common nouns in English are countable — they
have both singular and plural forms. Many nouns have both countable and noncountable uses,
such as the countable dozen eggs and the noncountable egg on his face.

A mass or uncountable noun — advice, bread, knowledge, luck, and work — names things
that, when used in English, cannot usually be counted. A mass noun (also known as a noncount
noun) is generally used only in the singular. Many abstract nouns are uncountable, but not all
uncountable nouns are abstract.

Other Types of Nouns

There are two other types of nouns. Some style guides might separate them into their own
categories, but they are really special types of nouns that fall within the categories described
previously.

Denominal nouns: A denominal noun is formed from another noun, usually by adding a suffix,
such as villager (from village), New Yorker (from New York),
booklet (from book), limeade (from lime), guitarist (from guitar), spoonful (from spoon), and
librarian (from library).

Denominal nouns are context-sensitive; they depend on the context for their meaning. For
example, while a librarian usually works in a library, a seminarian usually studies in a
seminary.

Verbal nouns: A verbal noun (sometimes called a gerund) is derived from a verb (usually by
adding the suffix -ing) and exhibits the ordinary properties of a noun. For example:

 His firing of William was a mistake.

  My mother didn't like the idea of my writing a book about her.

In the first sentence, the word firing derives from the word fire but functions as a verbal noun. In
the second sentence, the word writing derives from the verb write, but it functions here as a
verbal noun.
Conjunctions.
What is a conjunction?
A conjunction is the glue that holds words, phrases and clauses (both dependent and
independent) together. There are three different kinds of conjunctions -- coordinating,
subordinating, and correlative -- each serving its own, distinct purpose, but all working to bring
words together.

Thanks to conjunctions, we don't have to write short, choppy sentences. We can extend our lines
with simple words like "and" or "but" and perhaps a comma or two. What is a conjunction? It's a
joiner and so much more. Review the examples below and then download the handy chart as a
reminder of each type of conjunction, its definition, and examples.

Types of conjunctions:
Coordinating Conjunction:

Coordinating conjunctions are what come to most people's minds when they hear the word
"conjunction." They join together words, phrases, and independent clauses. With them, short
and choppy sentences can be joined into fuller lines. There are seven of them, and they're easy to
remember if you can just think of the acronym "FANBOYS."

 For - Explains reason or purpose (just like "because")

 And - Adds one thing to another
 Nor - Used to present an alternative negative idea to an already stated negative idea
 But - Shows contrast
 Or - Presents an alternative or a choice
 Yet - Introduces a contrasting idea that follows the preceding idea logically
 So - Indicates effect, result or consequence

Coordinating Conjunctions Used in Sentences

Here are some example sentences using the seven coordinating conjunctions:

 I go to the park every Sunday, forI love to watch the ducks on the lake.
 I watch the ducks on the lake andthe shirtless men playing soccer.
 I don't go for the fresh air norfor the ducks; I just like soccer.
 Soccer is entertaining in winter, butit's better in the heat of summer.
 The men play on two teams: shirts or
 I always take a book to read, yetI never seem to turn a single page.
 I'm dating one of the players, soI watch the soccer game each week.
Subordinating Conjunction

A subordinating conjunction always introduces a dependent clause, tying it to an independent

clause. A dependent clause is a group of words that cannot stand alone as a complete sentence.
An independent clause, by contrast, can stand alone as a complete sentence.

Unlike coordinating conjunctions, subordinate conjunctions can often come first in a sentence.
This is because of the nature of the relationship between the dependent and the independent
clause.

In English, there are lots of subordinating conjunctions. Here are the most common examples:

although as because
before how if
once since than
that though until
when whenever where
whether while why

Examples of Subordinating Conjunctions in a Sentence

Here are some example sentences utilizing several subordinating conjunctions:

 Becauseof him, I learned how to start my own business.

 Everything will fall into place ifyou start at the beginning,
 Untilyou try, you'll never know.
 I add a new entry to my gratitude journal whenI wake in the morning,
 AsI write this letter, I know I must say goodbye.
 Life's been so happy sinceI moved to Chile.

Correlative Conjunctions

Correlative conjuntions are tag-team conjunctions. They come in pairs, and you have to use both
of them in different places in a sentence to make them work. These conjunctions work together
(co-) and relate one sentence to another. Correlative conjunctions connect two equal
grammatical terms. So, if a noun follows "both," then a noun should also follow "and."

Common pairs include:

 both/and
 whether/or
 either/or
 neither/nor
 not/but
 not only/but also
Example Sentences Using Correlative Conjunctions

To best understand how to use correlative conjunctions correctly, study these sentence
examples:

 I want eitherthe pink sofa or the purple one.

 I'll study bothEnglish literature and art history.
 I didn't know whetheryou'd want milk or cream, so I grabbed both.
 Why do you want to visit neitherIreland nor Scotland?
 I took not onlythe pink sofa but also the Tiffany lamp.
 Notthe cheeseburger for me, but definitely the fries.
Verbs
What is a verb?
A verb is a word used to describe an action, state or occurrence.

Verbs also show:

 The tense (time period) of a sentence.

 Agreement with the subject of a sentence
 A noun´s state of being.
 More information about a noun

Types of verbs
Action verb: describes an action that someone can do or demonstrate.

Example: We baked a carrot cake.

Stative verb: Describes a position or state of being that you can‘t see, but exists anyway.

Example: You deserve a prize.

I hate chocolate.

Regular Verb: Only adds -d or -ed in its past tense form.

Example: We walked to the concert. (walk)

Irregular Verb: Changes form in the past tense.

Example: I spoke to my neighbor. (speak)

Transitive Verb: Expresses an action and is followed by a direct object

Example: Oliver sends his love.

Intransitive Verb: A verb is intransitive when the action denoted by the verb does not pass
over from the subject to anything else. The action is confined to the subject; only the subjct
suffers the action. It does not have any objects.

Example: The dog ran.

Linking verb: Connects the subject to details about the subject.

Example: You seem like a thoughtful person.

Auxiliary Verb: Helps the main verb of a sentence by extending its meaning.
Example: I have been there before

Compund Verb: Two combined words that make one new verb.

Example: Can you babysit my kids tonight?

Adverb
An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective or another adverb. It provides us with
further information about a verb, adjective or another adverb. It tells us in which manner, at
what place or time, something happened, or is/was done.

Look at the examples below.

 Ali walks swiftly.

 She took the grocery out of the shopping bags very
 That is a really s weet child.

In the first example, the adverb swiftly is modifying the verb walks and is telling us the
manner in which Ali walks.
In the second example, the adverb very is modifying another adverb, carefully.
In the third one, the adverb really is modifying the word sweet, which is an adjective.

Types of adverbs
Adverbs are categorized into many kinds, such as:
 Adverbs of Time
 Adverbs of Place
 Adverbs of Frequency
 Adverbs of Degree
 Adverbs of Manner
 Adverbs of Reason
 Relative Adverbs
 Interrogative Adverbs
 Adverbs of Affirmation and Negation.

I. Adverbs of Time

Adverbs of time tell us about which time an action was performed. These answer the
question: When? Common words which come under the category of adverbs of time are:

 Ago, before, after, later, already, now, never, formerly, soon, since, etc

Examples in sentences:
  I called my friend a few days ago.
 I formerly worked at the pizza shop.

II. Adverbs of Place

Adverbs of Place tell us about at what place an action took place. These answer the question:
Where? Common words which come under the category of adverbs of place are:

 Here, there, up, out, in, within, away, etc

Examples in sentences:

 Mr. Saud was visiting here an hour ago. I'm going out with my family.

III. Adverbs of Frequency

Adverbs of frequency show us about how often or how many times a thing took place. These
answer the question: How often? Common words used as adverbs of frequency are:

 Once, twice, again, often, seldom, rarely, always, frequently, etc

Examples in sentences:

 I often go to visit my grandparents. It rarely rains around here.

IV. Adverbs of Degree

Adverbs of Degree inform us about to what degree or an extent something happens. These
answer the question: How much? Adverbs of Degree are also known as Adverbs of Quantity.
Common words used as Adverbs of Degree or Quantity are:

 Too, any, almost, so, pretty, rather, quite, partly, altogether, enough, etc

Examples in sentences:

 I was pretty busy yesterday.

 The sauce I bought today was good enough for making my pizza.

In the above examples, we can see that the words pretty and enough both answer the
question of how much.

V. Adverbs of Manner

Adverbs of Manner give us information about how or in which manner some action is
preceded. These answer the question: How? Adverbs of manner usually are derived from
 adjectives and mostly end in -ly. Following are some common words that come under the
adverbs of manner category:

 Swiftly, clearly, foolishly, well, so, slowly,

Examples in sentences:

 Hassan caught the loose snake bravely.

 Her hair is always well combed.
 She should do so.

VI. Adverbs of Reason

Adverbs of Reason are the words that are used to state the reason or cause of some
happening. These are also known as Adverb of Cause and answer the question: Why? The
common words that come under this category are:

 Because, hence, therefore, so, etc

Example in sentences:

 I therefore went to the market by myself.

 He was hungry, so he went to the restaurant.

VII. Adverbs of Affirmation Negation

Adverbs of Affirmation are the words that are used to affirm or declare something as true.
These validate things. These are the words that are commonly used as adverbs of
affirmation:

 Surely, certainly, definitely, very, obviously, yes, indeed, etc.

Examples:

 Surely it rained yesterday.

 I am obviously going to get an A+ on my test.

VIII. Adverbs of Negation

Adverbs of negation are the words which denote a statement, action or an idea as false. It is
used to negate something. Words commonly used to falsify something are:

 No, never, invalidly, etc

Examples in sentences:
  He never went to Italy.
 I no longer like to play table tennis.

IX. Relative Adverbs

Relative Adverbs are the words which come before an adjective clause. These are:

 When, where and why.

Examples in sentences:

 That was the reason why Harris came.

 The place where I parked my car is very deserted.
 She forgot the time when we went to the States.

X. Interrogative Adverbs

Interrogative Adverbs are the verbs used to ask questions. These are placed in the beginning
of the sentence which contains the question. These words are commonly used as
interrogative adverbs:

 Why, where, how, when

Examples in sentences:

 When will you come to visit?

 How was the roast cooked?
Preposition
What is a preposition?
Prepositions are the words that we put before nouns or pronouns. These denote in what
relation the person or thing indicated by it exists, in relation to something else. Look at the
examples below.

 The child jumped off the bed.

 There is a bee in the jar.
 Hani is fond of cheesecakes.

In the first example, the word 'off 'is showing the relation between the action denoted by the
verb jumped, and the noun chair.
In the second example, the word 'in' is showing the relation between bee and the jar.

In the third example, the word 'of' is showing the relation between the quality denoted by the
adjective fond and the noun cheesecake.

 Hence the words off, in and of are Prepositions.

Types of Prepositions
Prepositions are classified into following categories:
 Simple Prepositions
 Double Prepositions
 Compound Prepositions
 Phrasal prepositions
 Participle Prepositions
 Detached Prepositions

1. Simple Prepositions

Simple prepositions are used to denote a relation between nouns or pronouns. These can
even be used to join different parts of sentences and clauses. Simple prepositions are one
word prepositions. These are also called Single Prepositions. Common words used that come
under the category of Simple Prepositions are as follows:

 In, out, on, up, at, for, from, by, of, off, through, till, etc.

Examples in sentences:

 Keep your phones in your pockets.

 Staring at people is not considered a good gesture.
In the above two examples, both prepositions consist of one simple word and hence are
Single or Simple Prepositions.

2. Double Prepositions

Double Prepositions are made by putting together two Single Prepositions. That is why they
are called Double Prepositions. Common words used as Double Prepositions are as follows:

 Onto, into, throughout, up till, up to, within, without, upon, etc

Examples in sentences:

 Complete this essay within two hours.

 I am going to turn this scrap into a masterpiece.

In the first example, the Preposition within is made by combining two Single Prepositions
with and in.

In the second example, the Preposition into is formed by putting together two Simple
Prepositions in and two. These are hence Double Prepositions.

3. Compound Prepositions

Compound Prepositions are usually formed by prefixing a Preposition to Nouns, Adjectives

or Adverbs. They are different from Double Prepositions because they are not formed by two
single prepositions. Common words, which come under the category of Compound
Prepositions, are stated below:

 Above, about, across, along, before, behind, beside, inside, outside, etc

Examples in sentences:

 He was going about his business.

 The person beside Ali is my brother.

In the first example, the prefix 'a' is added to a root word 'bout' to make a preposition. In the
second example, the prefix be is added to the root word side to make a preposition. Thus,
these words are Compound Prepositions.

4. Phrasal Prepositions

Phrasal Prepositions are groups of words or phrases that join the noun or pronoun in a
sentence, to the remainder of the sentence. These groups of words express a single idea by
coming together as a unit. Words that come under the category of Phrasal Prepositions are as
follows:
 In addition to, by means of, in spite of, according to, owing to, in favor of, etc

Examples in sentences:

 He couldn't pass the test, owing to his lack of knowledge of English Grammar.
 She made it to the other side of the world, in spite of all the difficulties.

In the first example, the group of words 'owing to' is joining the two sentences with each
other and is a phrase. Likewise, the group of words 'in spite of' is also a phrase and is
working as a preposition. Hence, these are Phrasal Prepositions.

5. Participle Prepositions

Participle Prepositions, indicating from their name, are the Present Participle forms of Verbs.
These are used without any noun or pronoun attached with them. The words that are
distinguished as Participle Prepositions are as follows:

 Concerning, considering, barring, notwithstanding, touching, pending, during, etc

Examples in sentences:

 Notwithstanding his efforts, he was still fired from the job.

 Touching this matter, I do not have much information.

In above examples, both the verbs notwithstanding and touching are in Present Participle
which is apparent from the 'ing' at the end of both words. These words are therefore
Participle Prepositions.

6. Disguised Prepositions

Disguised Prepositions are those prepositions which are not used in the sentences directly,
but are disguised. Their shorter forms are used. The examples of Disguised Prepositions are
'a' and 'o'. 'a' is shortened form of the preposition 'on' and 'o' is the shortened form of the
preposition 'of'.

Examples in sentences:

 The ceremony will be held at 5 o' clock.

 We all went to a party.

In the first example, instead of saying '5 of the clock', we have used disguised form of the
preposition of.

In the second example, instead of saying 'went on partying', we have used abbreviation of the
preposition on and disguised the preposition as 'a'. Hence these are Disguised Prepositions.
 7. Detached Prepositions

A preposition is called a Detached Preposition when it does not come before its object. It is
detached from its object. When the object of a preposition is an interrogative pronoun or a
relative pronoun, the preposition comes at the end of the sentence.

Look at the following examples for further understanding.

 She is the woman whom I was talking about.

 Here are the books that you asked for.
 Which of the houses were you working in?

In the first two of the above examples, we can see that because of relative pronouns whom
and that, the prepositions about and for are being detached from their objects.

In the third example, the interrogative pronoun ‗which‘ is detaching the preposition 'in' from
its object.

 Hence these are all Detached Prepositions.

Interjection
This part of a speech refers to words which express emotions. Since interjections are
commonly used to convey strong emotions, they are usually followed by an exclamation
point.

Example:
Ouch! That must have hurt.
Hurray, we won!
Hey! I said enough!

The bold words attached to the main sentences above are some examples of interjections.