Parts of speech

Parts of Speech

nouns

• persons, places, things
• proper nouns
  • nouns as modifiers
    • ex. "dog food"
    • see Nouns as Modifiers (meg.com)

verbs

• express action
• verb phrases
• verb forms

infinitives

• 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

• denotes an action happening at the moment.
• also considered a "base" form of a verb

present progressive

• = -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

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• • 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

• click EXPAND to see examples of present progressive verbs used to combine independent clauses
• see also:
  • [present participles vs present progressives (thoughtco.com]

transitive and intransitive verbs

• 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"

participles and gerunds

• 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

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• present participle
  • uses the -ing form of a verb as an adjective

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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.

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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

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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

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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
  • Grammar: Verb Forms: "-ing," Infinitives, and Past Participles (Walden Univ)
  • Common Verb Tenses in Academic Writing (Walden Univ)
  • The -ing forms (ef.edu Resources for Learning English
  • Grammar-Monster.com participles

• Click EXPAND to see participles definitions and types

conjugations

• see
  • Verb conjugations

adjectives

• modify nouns

articles

• 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
  • [https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/grammar/using_articles.html Purdue OWN Using Articles}
  • What Are Articles?

pronouns

• "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

• express relationship in time, place, or sequence

interjections

• aside remarks or interruptions
• exclamation
  • expresses a spontaneous reaction or emotion

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examples of exclamations:

• • • • "no!"
      • "okay"
      • "damn!"
      • "heh!"

• click EXPAND to see full definitions and examples of participles and gerunds

Categories

• Grammar
• Word Parts of Speech & Grammar Rules