Parts of speech: Difference between revisions

From A+ Club Lesson Planner & Study Guide
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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]

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

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
    • 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
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 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"
    • 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

pronouns[edit | edit source]

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

Categories[edit | edit source]