Transcript Grammar1 PowerPoint presentation

Grammar:
Parts of Speech
and Sentence
Construction
Part I
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You could get by in the world only knowing
two parts of speech—
NOUNS AND VERBS
You would sound a little Neanderthal when you talked,
but you could get by.
What are nouns?
people
cheerleaders
Jessica & Kim
places
school
KFHS
things
books
Angela’s Ashes
ideas
freedom
NOUNS
Nouns are names of people, places, things, and
ideas. Most of the time a noun is something that
you can touch or see. (These are called
“concrete nouns.”) Ninety-nine percent of all
nouns fall into this category.
Nouns that you can’t touch or see are called abstract
nouns. Abstract nouns are things like—
freedom
surprise
remorse
hate
friendship
patriotism
dislike
love
anger
confusion
Find the nouns in the excerpt
below:
Few inventions have changed the world like
computers. We find ourselves spending
more time sitting in front of a computer
screen than in front of a television. In some
ways computers give us freedom. Tasks that
were difficult and laborious in past years can
now be done with the click of a button.
But computers have also created more work
for us. Companies give computers to
workers, not so that the employee can have a
cool machine, but so that the company can
access the worker twenty-four hours per day.
Have computers given us independence? Or
have they become the masters and we are
now the slaves?
Find the nouns
in the excerpt below:
Few inventions have changed the world like
computers. We find ourselves spending
more time sitting in front of a computer
screen than in front of a television. In some
ways computers give us freedom. Tasks that
were difficult and laborious in past years can
now be done with the click of a button.
But computers have also created more work
for us. Companies give computers to
workers, not so that the employee can have a
cool machine, but so that the company can
access the worker twenty-four hours per day.
Have computers given us independence? Or
have they become the masters and we are
now the slaves?
VERBS
Verbs are the power of a sentence, the fire of a
sentence. We can improve our writing more by
improving our knowledge and use of verbs than by
any other means.
Action—these are the easy ones. They are words that
show action—run, jump, sit, think, eat, drive, sleep,
know, revolve, spin, type, watch, walk, swing, dance. . .
Sometimes these verbs need “help.” We use helping
or auxiliary verbs to help us express the time a
particular action happened.
“I am typing.” The action verb is “typing.” But the
helping verb “am” let’s us know that this is a current
action—something that is happening now.
Linking Verbs
Linking verbs are words that link the subject with a word in the
predicate.
I am a teacher.
The subject of this sentence is “I.” The linking verb is “am.” And
the word in the predicate that the linking verb connects to the
subject is “teacher.” Without linking verbs we sound like Tarzan—
I teacher. You student.
Linking verbs sometimes can act as auxiliary (helping) verbs. But
when they function that way, they are followed by action verbs. It
is easy to distinguish between the two of them if you try.
I am teaching my class.
Find the verbs in the selection below. Identify the verb phrase first.
Tell which is the auxiliary verb and which is the main verb. If the verb
is an action verb, identify it as action. If it is a linking verb, identify it
as linking.
Jennifer chose her college because her boyfriend was attending the
same university. George picked SMU because his father graduated
from there twenty-five years ago. Melissa was packing her bags for
SFA since so many of her friends were going there. And Gregory had
decided on Tomball College because he was too lazy to send
applications to a university. Are any of these young people going to
their colleges for the right reasons? Will they have positive
experiences?
Choose your college carefully. Select one that offers the degree that
you want to earn. Pick a college that you have an interest in. If your
friends have chosen different schools, keep in touch with them by
email or phone, but do not go to a school that is not right for you just
because a friend goes there. You might be wasting both your time
and your money.
Verb phrase is in red.
Auxiliary verb is underlined in green.
Linking verb is in blue.
Jennifer chose her college because her boyfriend was attending the
same university. George picked SMU because his father graduated
from there twenty-five years ago. Melissa was packing her bags for
SFA since so many of her friends were going there. And Gregory had
decided on Tomball College because he was too lazy to send
applications to a university. Are any of these young people going to
their colleges for the right reasons? Will they have positive
experiences?
Choose your college carefully. Select one that offers the degree that
you want to earn. Pick a college that you have an interest in. If your
friends have chosen different schools, keep in touch with them by
email or phone, but do not go to a school that is not right for you just
because a friend goes there. You might be wasting both your time
and your money.
Adjectives—The Words
that Describe
Adjectives are words
that tell:
Which one
How many
What color
What kind
They modify nouns and pronouns. You have a car. But what kind
of car is it? What color is it? Which one is it? How many cars do
you have? Without adjectives we could not answer those
questions.
Jon drove a noisy, old, red car.
What are the adjectives in this sentence?
Adjectives
modify
nouns.
Adjectives
modify
pronouns.
The truck
The gardener was
hot and sweaty
from working in the
sun all day.
When adjectives
modify pronouns, the
adjectives usually
follow a linking verb
and modify the
subject. What is the
linking verb in the
above sentence?
The big red
truck
When adjectives
modify nouns,
the adjectives
usually come
immediately
before the
nouns they
modify.
Articles
The words
“a,” “an,”
and “the”
are always
adjectives.
They are
called
articles.
Find the adjectives in the
following sentences.
What is your favorite movie? I love
Steel Magnolias. Sally Field is one
of my favorite actresses. She may
be short, but she is cute and
enthusiastic. She began acting
when she was a young girl, playing
Gidget on television. She soon
moved to the big screen and
succeeded there, too. Ms. Field has
performed with some of the most
famous actors in Hollywood. She
has made several great movies with
Tom Hanks. Maybe I like her
because she is small. She and I
have that one thing in common.
Find the adjectives in the
following sentences.
What is your favorite movie? I love
Steel Magnolias. Sally Field is one
of my favorite actors. She may be
short, but she is cute and
enthusiastic. She began acting
when she was a young girl, playing
Gidget on television. She soon
moved to the big screen and
succeeded there, too. Ms. Field has
performed with some of the most
famous actors in Hollywood. She
has made several great movies with
Tom Hanks. Maybe I like her
because she is small. She and I
have that one thing in common.
Adverbs
Adverbs modify verbs. That does
not mean that adverbs describe
verbs. Verbs can’t be described.
Adverbs tells us how, when, where
and to what extent about verbs,
adjectives, and other adverbs.
Sounds a little confusing, but it is
easy if you think about it.
Hearing footsteps behind her,
Linda walked swiftly to her car.
What word in that sentence
answers the word “how” about the
verb “walked?” What word might
you add that could modify “swiftly”
to intensify it?
The doctor is tired.
“Doctor” is the subject
(noun), and “tired” is the
adjective that describes that
noun.
The doctor is very tired.
“Doctor” is still the subject
(noun), and “tired” is still the
verb. The word “very” is an
adverb, an intensifier, that
modifies the adjective “tired.”
It tells us to what extent the
doctor is tired.
Even though sometimes we must use adverbs, we should put
more effort into strengthening our verbs so that adverbs become
less necessary. For example, if I heard footsteps behind me, I
would not “walk swiftly” to my car. I would not “walk very swiftly.” I
would run, race, dash, sprint. But sometimes adverbs are
necessary. We need to know how to identify them, and we need
to know how they work in a sentence.
Jennifer left work immediately after receiving a phone call.
When did Jennifer leave? That word is an adverb.
Gilbert deliberated intensively before making his decision.
How did Gilbert deliberate? That word is an adverb. How could
we rewrite this sentence so that an adverb is unnecessary?
After intensive deliberations, Gilbert decided his course of
action.