Parts of speech: Difference between revisions
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=== past simple === | === past simple === | ||
* an action that happened in the past | |||
** "I played soccer yesterday" | |||
** "I lived in Spain." | |||
=== participles and gerunds === | === participles and gerunds === |
Revision as of 20:07, 13 March 2021
Parts of Speech
nouns[edit | edit source]
- persons, places, things
- proper nouns
- nouns as modifiers
- ex. "dog food"
- see Nouns as Modifiers (meg.com)
- nouns as modifiers
verbs[edit | edit source]
- express action
- verb phrases
- verb forms
infinitives[edit | edit source]
- infinitives use "to"
- ex. "I go to see the game"
- root forms act like infinitives but without the "to"
- infinitive and base forms are generally interchangeable:
- ex. "He helped her clean her desk" (root form)
- v. "He helped her to clean her desk" (infinitive form)
- note that "root" and "base" forms are used interchangeably
- except "base form" of a verb includes infinitive and simple present forms of the verb
simple present[edit | edit source]
- denotes a single action that is repeated, always happens, or the present condition of something
- examples
- repeated action: "I eat lunch at noon."
- action that always (or, in the negative, never) happens: "I can't speak Latin"
- denotes the condition or state of something: "The car is clean" or "I feel great!"
- simple present form is also considered as a "base" verb form
present progressive[edit | edit source]
- = -ing form for a verb to express an ongoing action
- used with "to be" conjugations ("am" "is", etc.) the -ing verb form denotes an ongoing action
- ex. "She is dancing"
- see participle for the -ing form of a verb that acts as an adjective or a noun (called a gerund)
- note that present progressive verb forms are frequently used to combine sentences or independent clauses
- ex. "I went to see the sequel, and I hoped it would be as good as the first
- the two independent clauses (complete sentences) can be combined by converting the "I hoped" to the present progressive form, "hoping"
- "I went to see the sequel, hoping it would as good as the first"
- note that "hoping" renders the second clause dependent (not a complete sentence or thought), thus employing only a comma and not a comma + conjunction
- present progressive verbs subordinate clauses:
- "Hoping it would be as good as the first" is not a complete sentence or thought
- thus it is a dependent or subordinate clause
- "Hoping it would be as good as the first" is not a complete sentence or thought
- click EXPAND to see examples of present progressive verbs used to combine independent clauses
- see also:
transitive and intransitive verbs[edit | edit source]
- transitive verbs act upon a direct object
- ex. "The soccer player kicked the ball"
- intransitive verbs do not have a direct object
- ex. "The soccer player played hard"
past simple[edit | edit source]
- an action that happened in the past
- "I played soccer yesterday"
- "I lived in Spain."
participles and gerunds[edit | edit source]
- verb forms that act like an adjective or a noun
- types:
- present participle:
- verb form using -ing that acts as an adjective
- past participle:
- past tense verb form that acts as an adjective
- gerund
- verb form using -ing that acts as a noun
- present participle:
- present participle
- uses the -ing form of a verb as an adjective
present participles as adjectives examples:
- "The boiling water is hot" (describes the water)
- "This trip is exciting" (modifies or describes the trip)
- "The directions are confusing" (modifies the directions)
Click EXPAND to see examples of present participles
- past participle
- verbs in the past tense used as an adjective
- where the simple past tense of a verb is used to show a condition of something
- typically are -ed -en and -t forms
- includes irregular verbs in the past tense, such as "to be" "to go" etc.
past participles as adjectives examples:
- "Boiled water is sanitized" ("boiled" and "sanitized" describe the water)
- "The glass was broken when I found it" ("was broken" describes the glass)
- "The cut flowers are pretty" ("cut -
Click EXPAND to see examples of past participles
- gerunds
- verbs that act as nouns
- use the -ing form of the verb
gerund (participles as nouns) examples:
- "to swim" + -ing = "swimming" = a noun for the act of swimming
- "Swimming is fun"
- "Boiling water sanitizes it" ("boiling" is an act, therefore a noun, from the verb "to boil")
Click EXPAND to see examples of gerunds
- Note:
- gerunds are often interchangeable with infinitives
- "I hate doing math" versus "I hate to do math"
- however, note that gerunds and infinitives may act differently in terms of the object of the sentence
- gerunds are often interchangeable with infinitives
- Note:
how gerunds and infinitives change the meaning of a sentence:
"Burland advocated using soil extraction:"
- A) NO CHANGE
- "Burland advocated using..." = he advocates for the use of soil extraction (he advocates the the object)
- B) advocated to use
- "Burland advocated to use..." = he advocates "to use" (he advocates the action)
- A) NO CHANGE is correct because it is the object of the sentence, "soil extraction," that Burland advocates, not the action of its use (to use")
- Click EXPAND to see an example from College Board Practice Test 6, Writing Q21
- See
- Click EXPAND to see participles definitions and types
conjugations[edit | edit source]
adverbs[edit | edit source]
adjectives[edit | edit source]
- modify nouns
articles[edit | edit source]
- definite
- the
- refers to a specific noun, usually already stated or defined
- indefinite
- a or an
- refers to a general noun, usually not already stated or defined
- indefinite articles are not used to refer to a general noun or one that cannot be counteed
- ex. "water" cannot be counted, so "a water" is incorrect
- "may I have a water" should be instead "may I have some water"
- ex. "water" cannot be counted, so "a water" is incorrect
- zero articles
- when the noun represents a generic idea, the article can be omitted
- ex.
- "They went on vacation" as opposed to "they went on a vacation "
- see
- [https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/grammar/using_articles.html Purdue OWN Using Articles}
- What Are Articles?
pronouns[edit | edit source]
- "pro" = for; "noun"
- refer to a noun in oder to avoid repetition
- pronoun forms
- subject
- object
- possessive
- comparisons
- see How to Pick Pronouns for Comparisons (Dummies)
prepositions[edit | edit source]
- express relationship in time, place, or sequence
interjections[edit | edit source]
- aside remarks or interruptions
- exclamation
- expresses a spontaneous reaction or emotion
examples of exclamations:
- "no!"
- "okay"
- "damn!"
- "heh!"
- click EXPAND to see full definitions and examples of participles and gerunds