Grammar Review: PARTS OF SPEECH

I. NOUNS
A. Common Nouns
Common nouns are used to name a general person, place, or thing. Examples: woman, infant, town, year
B. Proper Nouns
Proper nouns are used to name a specific person, place, or thing.
Note: Proper nouns are generally capitalized. Examples: Troy, Monica, Shanghai, January
C. Collective Nouns
Collective nouns are used to name groups of people, places, or things. Examples: group, flock, herd, gaggle, pride
D. Plural Forms of Nouns
General rules:
In most cases, an s is added to the end of the noun to form the plural. Examples: apples, trucks
Sometimes, es is added to the end of the noun to form the plural. This generally occurs when the noun ends in s, z, ch, or sh. Examples: brushes, classes, churches
Exceptions:
  1. 1. Nouns that end in a vowel plus o: add s. Examples: patios, radios
  2. 2. Nouns that end with a consonant plus o: add es. Example: potatoes
  3. 3. Nouns that end in f or fe: change the f to v and add es. Example: calf / calves
  4. 4. Certain noun plural forms are irregular and must be memorized: Example: mouse / mice; ox / oxen; goose / geese; person / people
  5. 5. For some nouns, the plural form is the same as the singular form. Example: sheep / sheep; deer / deer; elk / elk; moose / moose
II. PRONOUNS
A pronoun replaces a noun. Example: Sally is looking for Matt. She needs to give him a message from his mother.
In the second sentence She has replaced Sally and him has replaced Matt.
III. VERBS
Verbs are words that express action or a state of being.
A. Action Verbs
Action verbs tell what the subject of the sentence is doing, has done, or will be doing. Example: The man ran across the street. The horse jumped over the fence.
B. Helping Verbs
Helping verbs are sometimes combined with a main verb to help express an action more fully. Example: Bill has run fifty marathons. In this sentence, has is a helping verb which adds meaning to the main verb run.
C. Linking Verbs
Linking verbs connect the subject of a sentence to the rest of the sentence. Example: David is happy.
IV. ADJECTIVES
Adjectives are sometimes called modifiers. They are used to describe nouns or pronouns. They provide information on size, number, color, kind, etc. Example: The woman struggled to lift the enormous pumpkin.
In this sentence the adjective "enormous" describes the noun "pumpkin".
V. ADVERBS
Adverbs are similar to adjectives, but instead of describing nouns and pronouns, adverbs are used to describe verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. It tells how, when, where, or how much. Example: The mother screamed loudly at the little boy as he ran into the busy street.
In this sentence, the adverb "loudly" describes the verb "screamed".
VI. CONJUNCTIONS
Conjunctions are used to join words, phrases or clauses.
Use and to combine two things or ideas. Example: I like grapes and peaches the best.
Use but to contrast two things or ideas. Example: I like grapes, but I don't like peaches.
Use or to provide a choice between two things or ideas. Example: Would you like a serving of grapes or a serving of peaches?
VII. PREPOSITIONS
Prepositions relate nouns and pronouns to other words in a sentence. Example: John went in the house with Jill. In this sentence "in" relates John to the house and with relates John to Jill.
Prepositions are always followed by nouns or pronouns. A noun or pronoun follower is referred to as the object of the preposition. In the example above, "house" is the object of the preposition "in" and "Jill" is the object of the preposition "with".
Common Prepositions
about, beside, inside, through, above, between, into, to, across, by, of, toward, after, down, off, under, along, during, on, until, around, except, onto, up, at, for, out, upon, before, from, outside, with, behind, in, over
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Grammar Review: PUNCTUATION

A. Commas
Commas are commonly used to:
  • Set off nonessential words from the rest of the sentence
  • Set off parenthetical expressions
  • Set off introductory phrases
  • Separate words in a series
  • Separate two independent clauses
B. Periods
Periods are commonly used:
  • To end a sentence
  • After capitalized word abbreviations
  • After some lowercase abbreviations
C. Semicolons
Semicolons are commonly used:
  • Between two independent clauses which are not separated by a conjunction
  • Between two independent clauses if either or both are already punctuated
  • Between a series of phrases when one or more elements in the series contains internal commas
D. Colon
Colons are commonly used:
  • To introduce an example
  • Following a salutation in a business letter
  • To introduce a list of items
  • Following headings in certain reports or outlines
E. Apostrophe
Apostrophes are commonly used:
  • To demonstrate singular or plural possession
  • In contractions
  • To form the plural of certain words
F. Parentheses
Parentheses are commonly used to:
  • Set off obviously nonessential words or phrases
G. Quotation Marks
Quotation Marks are commonly used to:
  • Identify and enclose exact words of a third party
  • Emphasize certain words or phrases
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