Ten-Minute

Grammar

NOUNS AND VERBS

OBJECTIVES:
1. Students should understand that
a. A noun is a person, place, thing, or idea.
b. Only nouns can be paired with an article like the, an, or a.
c. Only nouns can be owned or possessed by someone.
d. Verbs (and only verbs) can change to the past, present, or future tense.
2. Students should be able to
a. Identify nouns in context and distinguish them from other parts of speech.
b. Identify verbs in context.
c. Change the tense of verbs to past, present, or future.

LITERATURE:
This unit contains example selections from the novel
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman.

Ten-Minute

Grammar

DAY
One

Nouns and Verbs

Identify the NOUN in each of the following sentences (person, place, thing, or
ideaand pronouns dont count):

1. I caught a wild monkey yesterday.

2. I think he came from Madagascar.
3. He bit my hand when I tried to feed him.
4. Then I tried to feed him some bananas.
5. It turns out hes allergic to fruit.
Identify the VERB in each of the following sentences (the action of the
sentence):

6. I searched my house for something edible other than fruit.

7. Finally, I discovered some cold pizza in the fridge.
8. The monkey absolutely loved pizzaespecially the
pepperonis.
9. So the monkey and I became best friends.
Wordplay Just for fun!

EIGHT LETTERS: Create as many words as you can using three or

more of the letters below (at least one eight-letter word is possible):

RNTOAESC

Ten-Minute

Grammar

DAY
Two

Nouns and Verbs

Read the following sentences from The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman and
change the underlined verbs into PAST TENSE (it happened in the past):

1. The man outside is hauling a heavy metal garbage can across

the alley to the high brick wall that runs around that part of
the graveyard.
Change the underlined verb into PRESENT TENSE (its happening right now):

2. The man Jack thought.

3. The stranger unlocked the side gate.
Change the underlined verb into FUTURE TENSE (it will happen later):

4. They declared this place an official nature reserve.

5. The stranger reached them as silently as the fog itself, and he
watched the proceedings unfold from the shadows.
Identify which of the underlined words in this excerpt from The Graveyard
Book are VERBS (Remember: only verbs can change tenseuse that to check
your answers.)

6. Scarlett was carrying a large picture book; she sat next to her
mother on the green bench near the gates, and she read her
book while her mother inspected an educational supplement.
Wordplay Just for fun!

DESCRAMBLER: Try to sort out the five scrambled words below:

JZAZ

SIDBR

BORCNA

EPANTUS

OOCBKKOO

Ten-Minute

Grammar

DAY
Three

Nouns and Verbs

In your own words

1. What is a noun?
2. What is a verb?

Nouns can be identified by asking the following questions

if the answer is YES to any of them, youve got a NOUN:
Is it a person, place, thing, or idea?
Does it make sense to say The
(word)
?
Can it belong to someonecould you own it?
Identify which of the underlined words in this excerpt from The Graveyard
Book are NOUNS (use the questions above to check your answers.)

3. There were bones on the ground, very old bones indeed,

although below where the steps entered the room Bod could
see a crumpled corpse, dressed in the remains of a long
brown coat.
General Grammar ReviewChoose the correct homophone in the following
sentences:

4. I cant figure out (where / wear / were) I left my shoes.

5. Dont forget (your / youre) pantsthat would be
embarrassing.
Wordplay Just for fun!

FOUR-LETTER WORDS: Take the four-letter word below and change

one letter to make a new four-letter word (keep it clean!) Then take
that word and change one letter to make a new word. Then take that
word and You get the picture.

BOTH

Ten-Minute

Grammar

DAY
Four

Nouns and Verbs

Read the excerpt from The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman and then answer
the following questions:

Bod endured the lesson. (b) When Silas taught him

things, it was interesting. (c) Much of the time, Bod didnt
realize he had been taught anything at all. (d) Miss Lupescu
taught in lists, and Bod could not see the point to it.
(a)

1. In sentence (a), is the word endured a noun or a verb?

2. Sentence (b) has two verbs; what are they?
3. In sentence (c), is the word time a noun or a verb?
4. Sentence (d) has four nouns; what are they?
Using the proper proofreading marks, correct the six errors in this excerpt:

bod fell, tumbling threw the darkness like a lump of marble, two
startled to be scared, wondering how deep the whole beneath that
grave could possibly be when two strong hands caught beneath
him the armpits.
Wordplay Just for fun!

VOWEL COMBINATOR: The vowel combination ai almost

always sounds like the hard A in play. List as many words as you
can that contain this vowel combo.

Ten-Minute

Grammar

QUIZ
DAY

Nouns and Verbs

REVIEW FOR TODAYS QUIZ:

1. What is a noun?
2. What is a verb?
3. How can changing a words tense help you identify if its a
verb?
4. What questions can you ask yourself to be sure if a word is a
noun?
5. Identify the nouns and verbs in the following sentence:
a. We usually eat turkey and potatoes when my family
gathers for the holidays. The food is always delicious.

Extra

Ten-Minute

Grammar

DAY
Five

Nouns and Verbs

REMEMBER: Nouns can be identified by asking the

following questions:
A. Is it a person, place, thing, or idea?
B. Does it make sense to say The _____________?
C. Can it belong to someone?
Identify which of the underlined words in these sentences are NOUNS. Then
tell which of the above questions best helps you decide (A, B, or C.)

1. The rain started at nightfall, just after we arrived at our home.

It had taken us twelve hours to drive the beat up mini-van
back from Los Angeles, and we were all ready for bed.

REMEMBER: Only verbs can change tenses (past, present,

future).
Identify which of the underlined words in these sentences are VERBS. Then
change the verb to a different tense to check your answer (write down both
the original and tense-changed verb.)

2. Lightning crackled in the distance. At about midnight, a power

line up the road exploded, struck by lightning, and our lights
all went out. As exhausted as we were, we reluctantly hunted
for flashlights and candles before going to bed.
Wordplay Just for fun!

CATALOGUE CREATOR: The suffix -ism means doctrine or

system of belief and sounds like iz-um. How many words can you
list that contain this suffix?

Extra

Ten-Minute

Grammar

DAY
Six

Nouns and Verbs

Read the excerpt from The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman and then answer
the following questions:

Up ahead of them, Bod saw a statue swing up, and another two
creatures came catapulting out into this crimson-skied world, just
like the ones that carried Bod. (b) One wore a raggedy silken gown
that looked like it had once been white, the other wore a stained
grey suit too large for it, the sleeves of which were shredded into
shadowy tatters.
(a)

1. In sentence (a), is the word world a noun?

2. In sentence (a), which of the following words is a verb:
creatures came catapulting out? (Use the tense-change test.)
3. In sentence (b), is the word stained a verb?
4. Identify all the nouns in sentence (b)there are six.
Using the proper proofreading marks, correct the six errors in this excerpt:

One of the winged beasts Dropped toward them, circled lower and
Bod maid the call again until it were stifled by hard hands
clamping, over his mouth
Wordplay Just for fun!

FIXER-ROOTER: How many words can you think of that have the
same prefix, suffix, or root as the multisyllabic word below?

COSMOPOLITANISM
(an ideology that all humans belong to a single community)

Extra

Ten-Minute

Grammar

DAY
Seven

Nouns and Verbs

Read the excerpt from The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman and then answer
the following questions:

Bod was unimpressed by the ghouls bravery or their

wisdom. (b) They were strong, though, and inhumanly fast,
and he was in the center of a troupe of them. (c) Making a
break for it would have been impossible. (d) They would be
able to catch up with him before he could cover a dozen
yards.
(a)

1. In sentence (a), what two clues tell us that there are several
ghouls, not just one?
2. Is the word bravery in sentence (a) a noun, verb, or
adjective?
3. Find the two nouns in sentence (b).
4. Sentence (b) has two verbs; what are they?
5. In sentence (c), is the word making acting as a verb? (Use
the tense-change test.)
6. Sentence (c) has only one noun; what is it?
7. In sentence (d), which of these words is a noun: cover a
dozen yards?
Wordplay Just for fun!

ANAGRAM: Rearrange the letters in the nonsense phrase

below to create new words that actually make sense.
SAD MUG FRONT
(Hint: speeding ticket)

DAY
Four
DAY

DAY
Six
Six Name:
Name:

Nouns
and Verbs
DAY

Four
Nouns
and Verbs
Nouns and Verbs

Nouns and Verbs

DAY
DAY
Six
Six N
1.
1.
Name:
1
2.
2.
1.
2
3.
3.
2.
3
4.
4.
3.
4
One of the
winged
beasts Dropped
toward
circled
lower and
Bod
maidwondering
the call again
were
stifled
by
bod fell, tumbling
threw
the darkness
like a lump
of them,
marble,
two startled
to be
scared,
howuntil
deepit the
whole
bene
4.
O
One of the win

Name:

Name:

1.

1.

2.

2.

3.

3.

4.

4.

One of the winged beastsbod

Dropped
toward them,
lower like
and aBod
maid
the call two
againstartled
until ittowere
stifled wondering
by hard hands
fell, tumbling
threw circled
the darkness
lump
of marble,
be scared,
howcl

ing sentence?
s fantasy novel The Graveyard Book in 2008.

f Nobody Owens, who is raised by ghosts after his parents are murdered.

ollowing sentences:
Jungle Book, the famous work of Rudyard Kipling.
a young family by a man named Jack.

Quiz

Quiz
ered.

Nouns and Verbs

Nouns and Verbs

Page Two

Nouns and Verbs

7.

ribanand
Jacks
hiding
knife
in by
a graveyard.
climbing out of his crib and hiding in a graveyard.

e of being

correct definition:

Page Two

Which word is a verb in the following

Which
sentence?
word is a verb in the following sentence?

Nouns and Verbs

Ten-Minute
NAME:

Grammar

Extra
Practice

Focus on Nouns
PERIOD:

A noun is a person, place, thing, or idea. People, places, and things

are fairly easy to recognize.
In the following paragraph, underline all the obvious people, places, and
things (there are at least 15 nounsthere are other nouns here that are not
obviously people, places, or things, but you can ignore those for now):

Neil Gaiman was born in Hampshire, UK, and now lives in the United States near
Minneapolis. As a child he discovered his love of books, reading, and stories,
devouring the works of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, James Branch Cabell, Edgar Allan
Poe, Michael Moorcock, Ursula K. LeGuin, Gene Wolfe, and G.K. Chesterton.

Some nouns (usually ideas or actions that act as nouns in the

sentence instead of verbs) are a little harder to pick out. There are
several simple tests that can help you identify nouns.
#1 The ARTICLE TEST: If you can put A, An, or The in front of a
word and it makes sense, that word is a noun. Bug if you see a
hairy dog, dont get confused and think hairy is a noun because
it comes after a. You didnt see a hairy, you saw a dog. So
dog is the noun.
In the following paragraph, decide whether each underlined word is a noun or
not by asking yourself if it can be paired with A, An, or The (write YES or NO
under each word):

A self-described feral child who was raised in libraries, Gaiman credits librarians
with fostering a life-long love of reading: I wouldn't be who I am without libraries.
I was the sort of kid who devoured books, and my happiest times as a boy were
when I persuaded my parents to drop me off in the local library on their way to

work, and I spent the day there. I discovered that librarians actually want to help
you: they taught me about interlibrary loans.

#2 The POSSESSIVE TEST: If you can possess or own something,

its a noun.
In the following paragraph, the possessive words are all underlined. Circle the
noun that each possessive word goes with):

Gaiman began his writing career in England as a journalist. His first book was a
Duran Duran biography, and his second was a biography of Douglas Adams,
Dont Panic: The Official Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy Companion. Gaiman
describes his early writing: I was very, very good at taking a voice that already
existed and parodying or pastiching it. Gaimans books are genre works that
refuse to remain true to their genres.

#3 The ADJECTIVE TEST: If you can put an adjective (like

awesome) before a word, that word is a noun.
In the following paragraph, decide whether each underlined word is a noun or
not by describing it with the word awesome (write YES or NO under each
word):

Gothic horror was out of fashion in the early 1990s when Gaiman started his work
on Coraline (2002). Originally considered too frightening for children, Coraline
went on to win the British Science Fiction Award, the Hugo, the Nebula, the Bram
Stoker, and more.

Finally, titles or names of specific people, places, or things are

proper nouns. So the Statue of Liberty is a proper noun, even
though of isnt a noun.
In the following paragraph, underline all the proper nouns (there are 10 in all):

First published in the United Kingdom at the end of 2008, The Graveyard Book has
won the UKs Booktrust Prize for Teenage Fiction and the Newbery Medal, the
highest honor given in US childrens literature, as well as the Locus Young Adult
Award and the Hugo Best Novel Prize. The awarding of the 2010 UK CILIP Carnegie
Medal makes Neil Gaiman the first author ever to win both the Newbery Medal
and the Carnegie Medal with the same book.
(All text examples come from the Biography page at www.neilgaiman.com.)

Ten-Minute

Extra

Grammar

Practice

NAME:

Focus on Verbs
PERIOD:

A verb is a word that shows action or a state of being. A verb can

change tenses, meaning that the action or state of being can take
place in the past, present, or future. Verbs are the only words that
can do this, so it makes it easy to recognize them.
In each of the following sentences, the verbs are underlined. Verify that each
underlined word is a verb by changing its tense. (Hint: future tense verbs use
the helping verb will, as in I will go to the store tomorrow.)
Past

Present

Future

__________ __________ ____________ When Coraline steps through a door to find another
house __________ __________ ____________ strangely similar to her own (only better),
things seem __________ __________ ____________ marvelous. But there is another mother
there, and another __________ __________ ____________ father, and they want her to stay
and be their little girl. __________ __________ ____________ Coraline will have to fight
with all her wits and courage if __________ __________ ____________ she hopes to save
herself and return to her ordinary life.
Now you identify the verb. Underline the verb in each sentence. Then check
your answer by changing its tense.
Past

Present

Future
Coralines Other Mother looks quite a bit like her own
mother -- except for the long spindly fingers and
shiny black button eyesbut it is her disposition that
is most remarkable. Where her real mother seemed
too busy for Coraline, her Other Mother is attentive
and affectionate. She cooks delicious meals, showers

the little girl with praise, and asks Coraline to stay

with her forever.

The verbs weve been looking at so far have all been simple, oneword verbs. But some verbs are more complicated than that. When
you have a verb phrase (a main verb one or more helping verbs),
the entire phrase can be replaced by a single present- or pasttensed verb.
In the following sentences, the verb phrase is underlined. Verify that it is a
verb phrase by replacing it with a single verb (in present or past tense):
____________ The well had been covered up by wooden boards, to stop anyone falling in.
____________ He told Coraline that he had been training a mouse circus.
____________ The mice are not yet ready and rehearsed. Also, they refuse to play the
songs I have written for them.
____________ She watched animals, birds and insects which disguised themselves as
leaves or twigs or other animals to escape from things that could hurt them.
____________ Once upon a time Miss Spink and Miss Forcible must have been actresses.

Now you identify the verb phrase. Underline the verb phrase in each sentence.
Then check your answer by replacing it with a single verb (in present or past
tense):
____________ She thought the old man was making it up.
____________ It wasnt the kind of rain you could go out in.
____________ It must have been a very old houseit had an attic under the roof, a cellar
under the ground, and an overgrown garden with huge old trees in it.
____________ All the songs I have been writing for the mice to play go oompah oompah.
But the white mice will only play toodle oodle, like that.
____________ There was also a haughty black cat, who would sit on walls and tree stumps
and watch her.

(Example sentences on first page taken from the Neils Work page at
www.neilgaiman.com and the Books page at www.mousecircus.com.
Example sentences from second page taken from Coraline by Neil Gaiman.)