Writing and Grammar

Your Road Map for Successful Writing Habits

J. King 2010

Nouns and Pronouns

Common and Proper Nouns

A common noun names any one of a class of people, places, or things.

i.e. writer, order, building

A proper noun names a specific person, place, or thing.

i.e. Mark Twain, Odonata, White House

Count and Noncount Nouns

Count nouns refer to entities that are viewed as countable. Count nouns therefore have both a singular and a plural and they can be accompanied by determiners that refer to distinctions in number:A tenOne student many studentsEvery those

Count and Noncount Nouns

Noncount nouns refer to entities that are viewed as a mass that cannot be counted; for example, bread, furniture, music. They are treated as singular and can be accompanied only by determiners that do not refer to distinctions in number:

Much

Your information

That

Noun Suffixes

A noun is a word that can be the only or main word in a noun phrase. WE cannot identify all nouns merely by their form, but certain suffixes can be added to verbs or adjectives to make nouns. Here are a few typical noun suffixes with words that exemplify them:

Noun Suffixes

-tion (and variants) education, relation, invasion, revision

-er, -or camper, speaker; actor, supervisory

-ing building, writing

-ity mentality, normality, reality, sanity

-ness happiness, compactness

Pronouns and Antecedents

Pronouns are words that stand for nouns or for words that take the place of nouns.

i.e. he, his, her, hers

Antecedents are nouns (or words that take the place of nouns) for which pronouns stand.

i.e. Michael said he lost his watch at the fair.

Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns refer to the person speaking (first person), the person spoken to (second person), or the person, place or thing spoken about (third person).

Singular Plural

First Person I, me, my, mine We, us, our, ours

Second Person You, your, yours You, your, yours

Third Person He, him, his, she ,her, hers, it, its

They, them, their, theirs

Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns

A reflexive pronoun ends in –self or –selves and indicates that someone or something performs an action to, for or upon itself. Reflexive pronouns point back to a noun or pronoun earlier in the sentence.

An intensive pronoun ends in –self or –selves and simply adds emphasis to a noun or pronoun in the same sentence.

Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns

Singular Plural

First Person Myself Ourselves

Second Person Yourself Yourselves

Third Person Himself, herself, itself Themselves

Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns

Reflexive: Joy helped herself to some turkey.

They poured themselves some milk.

Intensive: The mayor herself attended the carnival.

An intensive pronoun usually comes directly after its antecedent, but not always.

Frank fixed the refrigerator himself.

Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns direct attention to specific people, places, or things.

Demonstrative pronouns come before or after their antecedents

Before: This is the person we want to hire.

After: Of all the celebrations in the world, that is my favorite.

Singular Plural

This, that These, those

Relative Pronouns

A relative pronoun begins a subordinate clause (A group of words that has both a subject and a verb but cannot stand alone as a sentence.) and connects it to another idea in a sentence.

Relative pronouns: that, which, who, whom, whose

Independent Clause vs. Subordinate ClauseIndependent Clause Subordinate Clause

We planted a shrub that attracts ladybugs.

I saw a cicada, which was a surprise.

Louisa is a player who pitched first.

Phil is the debater whom the judges chose.

We visited Grandmother whose house is in New Orleans.

Interrogative Pronouns

An interrogative pronoun is used to begin a question.

Interrogative pronouns: what, which, who, whom, whose

i.e. Which of the vegetables do you want?

i.e. Who will go with me to the park?

Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns refer to people, places, or things, often without specifying which one.

Singular Plural Singular or Plural

Another everyone nothingAnybody everything oneAnyone little otherAnything much somebodyEach neither someoneEither nobody somethingEverybody no one

BothFewManyOthersSeveral

AllAnyMoreMostNonesome

Verbs

Action Verbs

An action verb that tells what action someone or something is performing

i.e. The king rules.

i.e. Famine struck the people.

Intransitive Verbs

Intransitive verbs are capable of expressing themselves without a complement to complete their meaning.

Example: The dog coughed.

We huddled under our ponchos through the opera in the rain.

John slouched past the fountain.

Transitive Verbs

Transitive Verbs are those that cannot complete their meaning without the help of a direct object.

Example: We bounced the idea around the saloon.

He yanked her out of her daze.

Transitive and Intransitive Verbs

An action verb is transitive if it directs action toward someone or something named in the same sentence.

An action verb is intransitive if it does not direct action toward someone or something named in the sentence.

Transitive: Pat carried her books to the lecture in Asia

Intransitive: The temperature fell quickly.

Transitive: Bill reads books about Asia.

Intransitive: Bill reads every night before going to bed.

Linking Verbs

A linking verb is a verb that connects a word at or near the beginning of a sentence with a word at or near the end.

The most common linking verb is some form of the verb be.

i.e. Sara is an astronaut.

i.e. He was glad.

The Forms of Be

AmAreIsWas Were

Am beingAre beingIs beingWas beingWere being

Can beCould beMay beMight beMust beShall beShould beWill beWould be

Have been Has beenHad beenCould have beenMay have beenMight have beenMust have beenShall have beenShould have beenWill have beenWould have been

Other Linking Verbs

The situation on board remained serious.

The astronauts grew anxious.

AppearBecome

FeelGrow

LookRemain

SeemSmell

Sound Stay

TasteTurn

Linking Verb or Action Verb

A verb is functioning as a linking verb if am, are, or is can logically be substituted for the verb.

Linking Verbs Action Verbs

The pears taste sweet. I taste the red pepper.

The pears are sweet. (linking) I am the red pepper. (not linking)

Apollo 13 appears ready. Apollo 13 appears suddenly.

Apollo 13 is ready. (linking) Apollo 13 is suddenly. (not linking)

The runner grew tired. He grew a beard.

The runner is tired. (linking) He is a beard. (not linking)

Helping Verbs

Helping verbs are verbs that can be added to another verb to make a single verb phrase.

Helping Verbs Other Than the Forms of BeDo Have Shall Can

Does Has Should Could

Did Had Will May

Would Might

Must

Recognizing Helping Verbs/Auxiliary Verbs

Verb PhrasesHelping Verbs Verbs

AmDidCan Will beShould haveMight have been

TalkingPlayWriteStudyingSeenConsidered

Adjectives and Adverbs

Adjectives

An adjective is a word used to describe a noun or pronouns or to give a noun or pronoun a more specific meaning.

The process by which an adjective describes a word or makes it more specific is called modification.

Adjectives must answer the question What kind? Which one? How many? Or How much? about the nouns and pronouns they modify.

Adjectives Answering Questions

What Kind?

Red boat silver jewelrySick passenger cool water

Which One?

Third chance any pieceThis train those apples

How Many?

Six cars several reasonsBoth answers few letters

How Much?

Enough space more energyNo rain little effort

Articles

Three adjectives—the, a, and an—are articles. The is called the definite article; a and an are called indefinite articles.

The definite article, the, indicates that the noun it modifies refers to a specific person, place, or thing. The indefinite articles, a and an, indicate that the nouns they modify refer to any one of a class of people, places, or things.

Attributive Adjectives

Adjectives are attributive (attributing a quality to what is denoted by a noun) when they are being used as premodifiers.

Example: You are the very person I was looking for.

Example: That is utter nonsense.

Predicative Adjectives

Adjectives are predicative (part of the predicate) when they are being used as complements.

Example: I made the bed comfortable.

Example: We are happy to see you.

Central Adjectives

Central Adjectives can be used in all three functions.

She is an old woman.

She is old.

I consider her old.

Adjective Suffixes

-able, -ible -less

-al, -ial -ous, -eous, -ious

-ed -y

-ful

-ic

-ical

-ish

-ive, -ative

Nouns Used as Adjectives

A noun used as an adjective answers the question What kind? or Which one? About a noun that follows it.

Guitar music (What kind of music?)

Evening meal (Which meal?)

Proper and Compound Adjectives

A proper adjective is a proper noun used as an adjective or an adjective formed from a proper noun.

Examples:

Alcott novel, Chicago storm, Jeffersonian democracy, Mexican art

Adjectives made up of more than one word are called compound adjectives.

Examples:

far-off land, hard-shell crabs, farsighted leader, hardhearted neighbor

Adverbs

An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.

Adverbs Modifying Verbs

Where?

Fell below Went there

When?

Arrived today Left early

In What Way?

Happily ran Danced awkwardly

To What Extent?

Partly understands wash completely

Adverbs

An adverb is a word that can be the only or main word in an adverb phrase. The suffix –ly is commonly added to adjectives to make adverbs.

Calmly, frankly, lightly, madly, tearfully

If the adjective ends in –ic, the suffix is usually –ically

Economically, geographically, heroically, romantically

Adverbs (continued)

The suffix –wise is added to nouns to make adverbs.

Clockwise, lengthwise, moneywise, weatherwise

Many adverbs have no suffix:

Now, afterwards, here, outside, therefore, however

Adverbs (continued)

Adverbs modify and thus typically precede verbs and adjectives—the factory was well run, the man was extremely tired, etc. Adverbs (adverbials):Of time: at two o’ clock, nowOf manner: in a slip-shod way, haphazardlyOf frequency: every three weeks, repeatedlyOf duration: ad infinitum, eternallyOf location or direction: home, away, aheadOf attitude toward an event or action: with contempt, frankly

Prepositions, Conjunctions, and Interjections

Prepositions

A preposition is a word that relates a noun or pronoun that appears with it to another word in the sentence.

Examples

About, behind, down ,off, till, toward, under, upon, since, through, inside, beyond, before, etc.

Conjunctions

A conjunction is a word used to connect other words or groups of words.

Coordinating Conjunctions connect similar kinds of words or similar groups of words.

Examples: and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet

Conjunctions (continued)

Subordinating Conjunctions: connect two complete ideas by making one of the ideas subordinate to the other. To subordinate means to “place below another in rank or importance”. Examples:Although, even though, unless, as long as, as soon as, etc.

Interjections

Interjections are used to express emotion.

Examples: Ouch, Wow, Oh, Uh, Whew, etc.

Particles

Particles

Words that do not change their form.

A function word that does not belong to any of the inflected grammatical word classes (such as nouns, pronouns, verbs, or articles). It is a catch-all term for a heterogeneous set of words and terms that lack a precise lexical definition

Examples:

At, away, by, for, the, to