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SUMMER READING ESSAYS | |
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 GRAMMAR NOTES |  |
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Just like a martial artist must practice their skills to attain a black belt, sophomores need to hone their grammar skills to attain a "sentence structure cummerband--an award which will help them become more proficient writers. To become a better writer, students will be taught strategies that will help them become clearer, more precise users of the English language. Current Notes:
* ALL to + verb = not a verb!!! We will learn about infinitives later but __________________________________________________________________________________________
*can be tested by adding what?/whom?
*are usually followed by a Prep Phrase or Adv (optional to the sentence)
-- verb that shows existence of an object (noun) 1. The BIG FIVE – am, are, is , was, were 2. The BEE’s – anything ending in BE, BEING, or BEEN * you will never see BE, BEING, or BEEN alone 3. The 12 OTHERS – appear, become, feel, grow, look, remain, seem, smell, sound, stay, taste, turn
1. HELPING VERB - verbs work with the main verb to give the reader a better idea of when the action takes place
__________________________________________________________________________________________ Q: What is an adjective? A: Adjectives are parts of speech that are used to describe (modify) or give specific meaning to a noun · Modify à change through addition * Rules for Adjectives: · Nouns can have an infinite amount of adjectives associated with them.
· Ex., the dusty, dirty, blue, four-door, expensive Land Rover. Land Rover is your proper noun. All the words that come before it describe your Land Rover. Be careful with this aspect of adjectives, sometimes sentences get confusing or too “wordy.” · Adjectives appear in the sentence in only two ways (adjectives are bold and underlined): a.) The bold child screamed at his mother. b.) The child, who screamed at his mother, is bold.
** “is” is a linking verb, whose main function is to connect nouns in the subject with adjectives in the predicate. · Possessive nouns, for example, “Jamie’s car” do act as adjectives! · Adjectives answer the following questions: a.) “what kind?” à blue car, tall boy, expensive watch b.) “which one?” à that hotel, any dog, other door c.) “how many?” à both pencils, five dollars, frequent conversations d.) “how much?” à less effort, more determination, enough laughter * Types of Adjectives: 1) Descriptive Words à general category of words that simply add clarification to a noun (big, small, tall, smelly, great, etc.) 2) A, AN—[both Indefinite Articles]—and THE—[a Definite Article]—are ALL considered to be adjectives. 3) Regular ole’ everyday common nouns – people, places, things, or ideas that answer the question “what kind?” or “which one?” Ex., words like car, orange, spaghetti, and book can become:
- car dealership (what kind of dealership?) - orange juice, orange tree, orange sweater - spaghetti sauce, spaghetti dinner - book mobile, book shelf, book worm - dog collar, dog walker, dog bone 4) Proper Nouns – SPECIFIC (named) people, places, things, or ideas that answer the question what kind? or which one? Ex., words like
- - Statue of - - McDonald’s employee 5) Pronouns used as Adjectives: a. Demonstrative – points toward a specific noun using THIS, THAT, THESE, and THOSE ex. These students will not be going to the fair. (these modifies students) b. Interrogative – always begin a question sentence using WHOSE, WHICH, and WHAT ex. Which car did you buy? (which modifies car) c. Possessive – shows ownership of the noun using HIS, HERS, ITS, OURS, YOURS, THEIRS, MY
ex. Today is our wedding anniversary. (our modifies anniversary) d. Indefinite – does not show a definite number of something using ANOTHER, EACH, EITHER, LITTLE, NEITHER, ONE, OTHER, BOTH, FEW, MANY, SEVERAL, SOME, MOST, MORE, ANY, ALL ex. All students will pass this class. (all modifies students) 6) Action Verbs used as Adjectives – any –ed/-ing action verb can be used to modify a noun ex. Swimming, running, dancing * used as verb à The team will be swimming for exercise this off-season. * used as an adjective à The swimming ducks captured the attention of the wolf. * used as an adjective à Mike will buy new running shoes at the store. * used as an adjective à The dancing bear belongs in a circus.
Q: What is an adverb? A: Adverbs are parts of speech that are used to describe (modify) or give specific meaning to a verb, adjective, or other adverbs · Modify à change through addition * Rules for Adverbs: · Adverbs usually come before or after the word they modify. Be careful though because they can sometimes be located at the very beginning or end of the sentence.
· Ex., The car usually starts quickly. Ex., Usually, the car starts quickly. · Adverbs answer the following questions: a.) “where?” à slide under, run around b.) “when?” à sails daily, leave soon c.) “in what manner?” (ie., How?) à cheerfully humming, driving erractically d.) “to what extent?” (used when an ADV modifies and ADJ) à widely known, very colorful shirt · Adverbs usually end in –ly but NOT always! Words like very, quite, often, sometimes, now, and always act as adverbs. · Nouns that answer the questions “where?” or “when?” something is occurring can also be Adverbs à home, today, weekends, and yesterday. Ex., Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth.
I played football yesterday. · If you feel comfortable with prepositions and prepositional phrases, when seen alone, prepositions will be used as adverbs.
__________________________________________________________________________________________ #1 Prepositional Phrases Q: What is a Prepositional Phrase? A: Prepositions never work alone. They combine with nouns (and the adjectives which add descriptions to nouns) to form a group of words called a Prepositional Phrase. Prepositional Phrases give additional information about nouns and verbs around them. They answer how, when, where, what kind, which one, and under what condition. Examples: How?: He talked (with a When?: We left (on Sunday). Where?: She parked her car (in the driveway). What Kind?: She does not like clothes (from the GAP). Which One?: The boy (in the gym) felt sick. Under what condition?: This wedding has me feeling (under some stress). Frequently used prepositions: Aboard Before Despite Near Through Within Prior to About Behind Down Of Throughout Without Above Below During Off Till According to Across Beneath Except On To Apart From After Beside For Opposite Toward Because of Against Besides From Out Under In addition to Along Between In Outside Underneath In back of Amid Beyond Inside Over Until In front of Among But Into Past Up Instead of Around By Like Round Upon Next to At Since With Out of
Rules: 1) A Prepositional Phrase will only start with a preposition and only contain adjectives [with an adverb modifying it] and pronouns or nouns. Example à with a 2) A Preposition without a phrase is an adverb. Example Prep Phrase à Our school bus drove (by the house). Example Adverb à Our school bus drove [by]. 3) Prepositional Phrases can show a time or space relationship between two objects in the sentence. The prep phrase tells us where the house is in relation to the bus in the sentence above. 4) Prepositional Phrases will be used as either an ADJECTIVE or an ADVERB. They use the same rules that we have already covered for regular, individual adjectives and adverbs.
Mr. Trescavage's Room 222 Riverside School District 310 Davis Street Taylor, Pa. 18517 |
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