Types of Grammar (and Counting)

Different Ways of Analyzing the Structures and Functions of Language

So you think you know grammar? All well and good, but which type of
grammar do you know?
Linguists are quick to remind us that there are different varieties of
grammar--that is, different ways of describing and analyzing the structures and
functions of language.
One basic distinction worth making is that between descriptive grammar and
prescriptive grammar (also called usage). Both are concerned with rules--but
in different ways. Specialists in descriptive grammar examine the rules or
patterns that underlie our use of words, phrases, clauses, and sentences. In
contrast, prescriptive grammarians (such as most editors and teachers) try to
enforce rules about what they believe to be the correct uses of language.
But that's just the beginning. Consider these varieties of grammar and take
your pick.

Comparative Grammar
The analysis and comparison of the grammatical structures of related
languages is known as comparative grammar. Contemporary work in
comparative grammar is concerned with "a faculty of language that provides
an explanatory basis for how a human being can acquire a first language . . ..
In this way, the theory of grammar is a theory of human language and hence
establishes the relationship among all languages"
Comparative Grammar--Past and Present
"Contemporary work in comparative grammar, like the comparative work
carried out by nineteenth-century grammarians, is concerned with establishing
[an] explanatory basis for the relationships between languages. The work of
the nineteenth century focused on relationships between languages and
groups of languages primarily in terms of a common ancestry. It assumed a
view of linguistic change as by and large systematic and lawful (rule
governed) and, on the basis of this assumption, attempted to explain the
relationship between languages in terms of a common ancestor (often a
hypothetical one for which there was no actual evidence in the historical
record). Contemporary comparative grammar, in contrast, is significantly
broader in scope. It is concerned with a theory of grammar that is postulated
to be an innate component of the human mind/brain, a faculty of language that
provides an explanatory basis for how a human being can acquire a first
language (in fact, any human language he or she is exposed to). In this way,
the theory of grammar is a theory of human language and hence establishes
the relationship among all languages--not just those that happen to be related
by historical accident (for instance, via common ancestry)."

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 Generative Grammar
Generative grammar includes the rules determining the structure and
interpretation of sentences that speakers accept as belonging to the language.
"Simply put, a generative grammar is a theory of competence: a model of the
psychological system of unconscious knowledge that underlies a speaker's
ability to produce and interpret utterances in a language"
• Generative grammar is a theory of grammar, first developed by Noam
Chomsky in the 1950s, that is based on the idea that all humans have an innate
language capacity.
• Linguists who study generative grammar are not interested in prescriptive
rules; rather, they are interested in uncovering the foundational principles that
guide all language production.
• Generative grammar accepts as a basic premise that native speakers of a
language will find certain sentences grammatical or ungrammatical and that
these judgments give insight into the rules governing the use of that language.

☆ Definition of Generative Grammar Br

Grammar refers to the set of rules that structure a language, including syntax
(the arrangement of words to form phrases and sentences) and morphology
(the study of words and how they are formed). Generative grammar is a
theory of grammar that holds that human language is shaped by a set of basic
principles that are part of the human brain (and even present in the brains of
small children). This "universal grammar," according to linguists like Chomsky,
comes from our innate language faculty.
In Linguistics for Non-Linguists: A Primer With Exercises, Frank Parker and
Kathryn Riley argue that generative grammar is a kind of unconscious
knowledge that allows a person, no matter what language they speak, to form
"correct" sentences. They continue:
"Simply put, generative grammar is a theory of competence: a model of the
psychological system of unconscious knowledge that underlies a speaker's
ability to produce and interpret utterances in a language ... A good way of
trying to understand [Noam] Chomsky's point is to think of a generative
grammar as essentially a definition of competence: a set of criteria that
linguistic structures must meet to be judged acceptable,"

Generative Vs. Prescriptive Grammar

Generative grammar is distinct from other grammars such as prescriptive
grammar, which attempts to establish standardized language rules that deem
certain usages "right" or "wrong," and descriptive grammar, which attempts to
describe language as it is actually used (including the study of pidgins and
dialects). Instead, generative grammar attempts to get at something

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deeper—the foundational principles that make language possible across all of
humanity.
For example, a prescriptive grammarian may study how parts of speech are
ordered in English sentences, with the goal of laying out rules (nouns precede
verbs in simple sentences, for example). A linguist studying generative
grammar, however, is more likely to be interested in issues such as how
nouns are distinguished from verbs across multiple languages.

Principles of Generative Grammar

The main principle of generative grammar is that all humans are born with an
innate capacity for language and that this capacity shapes the rules for what is
considered "correct" grammar in a language. The idea of an innate language
capacity—or a "universal grammar"—is not accepted by all linguists. Some
believe, to the contrary, that all languages are learned and, therefore, based
on certain constraints.
Proponents of the universal grammar argument believe that children, when
they are very young, are not exposed to enough linguistic information to learn
the rules of grammar. That children do in fact learn the rules of grammar is
proof, according to some linguists, that there is an innate language capacity
that allows them to overcome the "poverty of the stimulus."

Examples of Generative Grammar

As generative grammar is a "theory of competence," one way to test its
validity is with what is called a grammaticality judgment task. This involves
presenting a native speaker with a series of sentences and having them
decide whether the sentences are grammatical (acceptable) or ungrammatical
(unacceptable). For example:
The
-
di -

consonant sound
The man is happy. da follows
the
nothing
-
-

Happy man is the. the

-

de -

vowel sound
A native speaker would judge the first sentence to be acceptable and the
second to be unacceptable. From this, we can make certain assumptions
about the rules governing how parts of speech should be ordered in English
sentences. For instance, a "to be" verb linking a noun and an adjective must
follow the noun and precede the adjective.

Mental Grammar
The concept of mental grammar was popularized by American linguist Noam
Chomsky in his groundbreaking work "Syntactic Structures" (1957). Philippe
Binder and Kenny Smith noted in "The Language Phenomenon" how
important Chomsky's work was: "This focus on grammar as a mental entity
allowed enormous progress to be made in characterizing the structure of

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languages." Related to this work is Universal Grammar or the predisposition
for the brain to learn the complexities of grammar from an early age, without
being implicitly taught all the rules. The study of how the brain actually does
this is called neurolinguistics.
"One way to clarify mental or competence in grammar is to ask a friend a
question about a sentence," Pamela J. Sharpe writes in "Barron's How to
Prepare for the TOEFL IBT." "Your friend probably won't know why it's correct,
but that friend will know if it's correct. So one of the features of mental or
competence grammar is this incredible sense of correctness and the ability to
hear something that 'sounds odd' in a language."
It's a subconscious or implicit knowledge of grammar, not learned by rote. In
"The Handbook of Educational Linguistics," William C. Ritchie and Tej K.
Bhatia note,
"A central aspect of the knowledge of a particular language variety consists in
its grammar—that is, its implicit (or tacit or subconscious) knowledge of the
rules of pronunciation (phonology), of word structure (morphology), of
sentence structure (syntax), of certain aspects of meaning (semantics), and of
a lexicon or vocabulary. Speakers of a given language variety are said to have
an implicit mental grammar of that variety consisting of these rules and
lexicon. It is this mental grammar that determines in large part the perception
and production of speech utterances. Since mental grammar plays a role in
actual language use, we must conclude that it is represented in the brain in
some way.

"The detailed study of the language user's mental grammar is generally

regarded as the domain of the discipline of linguistics, whereas the study of
the way in which the mental grammar is put to use in the actual
comprehension and production of speech in linguistic performance has been a
major concern of psycholinguistics." (In "Monolingual Language Use and
Acquisition: An Introduction.")

Prior to the early 20th century and previous to Chomsky, it wasn't really
studied how humans acquire language or what exactly in ourselves makes us
different from animals, which don't use language as we do. It was just
classified abstractly that humans have "reason," or a "rational soul" as
Descartes put it, which really doesn't explain how we acquire language,
especially as babies. Babies and toddlers don't really receive grammar
instruction on how to put words together in a sentence, yet they learn their
native tongue just by exposure to it. Chomsky worked on what it was that was
special about human brains that enabled this learning.

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Pedagogical Grammar
Grammatical analysis and instruction designed for second-language students.
"Pedagogical grammar is a slippery concept. The term is commonly used to
denote (1) pedagogical process--the explicit treatment of elements of the
target language systems as (part of) language teaching methodology; (2)
pedagogical content--reference sources of one kind or another that present
information about the target language system; and (3) combinations of
process and content" (D. Little, "Words and Their Properties: Arguments for a
Lexical Approach to Pedagogical Grammar."
In An Introduction to Applied Linguistics (2007), Alan Davies observes that a
pedagogical grammar may be based on the following:

1. a grammatical analysis and description of the language;

2. a particular grammatical theory; and
3. the study of the grammatical problems of learners or on a
combination of approaches.

Observations

"Just as a pedagogical grammar can be regarded as a description of

the grammar of a language made for teaching and learning purposes, to
aid in the teaching and learning of that language, so pedagogical
phonetics and phonology can be regarded as a description of the sound
system and pronunciation of a language for the purpose of allowing
teachers to teach it more effectively and learners to learn it more
effectively. The point about pedagogical grammars is that they are not
the same as linguistic grammars because they have different functions
and uses."
(David Taylor, "What Do EFL Teachers Need to Know About
Pronunciation?" in Studies in General and English Phonetics, edited by
Joseph Desmond O'Connor and Jack Windsor Lewis, Routledge, 1995)
"Drawing on work in several fields such as linguistics, psychology and
second language acquisition theory, pedagogical grammar is of a
hybrid nature, which usually denotes grammatical analysis and
instruction designed for the needs of second language students. In its
expanded view, it involves decision-making processes on behalf of the
teacher which requires careful and time-consuming interdisciplinary
work. This process is influenced by the teachers’ cognition, beliefs,
assumptions, and attitudes about the teaching of grammar."(Nagyné
Foki Lívia, "From Theoretical to Pedagogical Grammar: Reinterpreting
the Role of Grammar in English Language Teaching," dissertation,
University of Pannonia, 2006)

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Performance Grammar
A description of the syntax of English as it is actually used by speakers in
dialogues. "performance grammar . . . centers attention on language
production; it is my belief that the problem of production must be dealt with
before problems of reception and comprehension can properly be
investigated"

Factors That Influence Linguistic Performance

" Linguistic performance and its products are in fact complex phenomena.
The nature and characteristics of a particular instance of linguistic
performance and its product(s) are, in reality, determined by a combination of
factors:
(6) Some of the factors which influence linguistic performance are:
(a) the linguistic competence or unconscious linguistic knowledge of the
speaker-hearer,
(b) the nature and limitations of the speaker-hearer's speech production and
speech perception mechanisms,
(c) the nature and limitations of the speaker-hearer's memory, concentration,
attention and other mental capacities,
(d) the social environment and status of the speaker-hearer,
(e) the dialectal environment of the speaker-hearer,
(f) the idiolect and individual style of speaking of the speaker-hearer,
(g) the speaker-hearer's factual knowledge and view of the world in which he
lives,
(h) the speaker-hearer's state of health, his emotional state, and other similar
incidental circumstances.
Each of the factors mentioned in (6) is a variable in linguistic performance
and, as such, may influence the nature and characteristics of a particular
instance of linguistic performance and its product(s)."

Chomsky on Linguistic Competence and Linguistic Performance

"In [Noam] Chomsky's theory, our linguistic competence is our

unconscious knowledge of languages and is similar in some ways to
[Ferdinand de] Saussure's concept of language, the organizing
principles of a language. What we actually produce as utterances are
similar to Saussure's parole, and is called linguistic performance."

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 "Chomsky divides linguistic theory into two parts: linguistic competence
and linguistic performance. The former concerns the tacit knowledge
of grammar, the latter the realization of this knowledge in actual
performance. Chomsky distinctly relegates linguistic performance to the
peripherals of linguistic inquiry. Linguistic performance as the actual use
of language in concrete situations is viewed as 'fairly degenerate in
quality' (Chomsky 1965, 31) because performance is full of errors.
" . . . Chomsky's linguistic competence corresponds to la langue, and
Chomsky's linguistic performance corresponds to la parole. Chomsky's
linguistic competence, however, because it is concerned primarily with
the underlying competence, is viewed as superior to de Saussure's la
langue."

"Competence concerns our abstract knowledge of our language. It is

about the judgments we would make about language if we had sufficient
time and memory capacity. In practice, of course, our actual linguistic
performance—the sentences that we actually produce--is limited by
these factors. Furthermore, the sentences we actually produce often
use the more simple grammatical constructions. Our speech is full of
false starts, hesitations, speech errors, and corrections. The actual
ways in which we produce and understand sentences are also in the
domain of performance.
"In his more recent work, Chomsky (1986) distinguished between
externalized language (E-language) and internalized language
(I-language). For Chomsky, E-language linguistics is about collecting
samples of language and understanding their properties; in particular, it
is about describing the regularities of a language in the form of a
grammar. I-language linguistics is about what speakers know about
their language. For Chomsky, the primary aim of modern linguistics
should be to specify I-language: it is to produce a grammar that
describes our knowledge of the language, not the sentences we actually
produce."

Reference Grammar
A description of the grammar of a language, with explanations of the principles
governing the construction of words, phrases, clauses, and sentences.
Theoretical Grammar
The study of the essential components of any human language. "Theoretical
grammar or syntax is concerned with making completely explicit the
formalisms of grammar, and in providing scientific arguments or explanations
in favor of one account of grammar rather than another, in terms of a general
theory of human language"

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Traditional Grammar
The collection of prescriptive rules and concepts about the structure of the
language. "We say that traditional grammar is prescriptive because it focuses
on the distinction between what some people do with language and what they
ought to do with it, according to a pre-established standard. . . . The chief goal
of traditional grammar, therefore, is perpetuating a historical model of what
supposedly constitutes proper language"

From Traditional Grammar to Sentence Grammar

David Crystal wasn't the first person to call attention to the age of traditional
grammar foundations, using this fact to argue against its implementation.
Linguist John Algeo coined the second major development in grammar
teaching, brought on by growing opposition to traditional grammar, sentence
grammar. "The first English grammars were translations of Latin grammars
that had been translations of Greek grammars in a tradition that was already
some two-thousand years old.
Furthermore, from the seventeenth century through the first half of the
nineteenth century, there were no substantial changes made in the form of
English grammar books or in the way English grammar was taught. When
people talk about 'traditional' grammar,' this is the tradition they mean, or
ought to mean. ... Traditional grammar began to be challenged around the
middle of the [nineteenth] century, when the second major development in
grammar teaching appeared.
There is no very good name for this second development but we might call it
'sentence grammar.' Whereas traditional grammar focused primarily on the
word (hence its preoccupation with parts of speech), the 'new' grammar of the
1850s focused on the sentence. ... It began to emphasize the grammatical
importance of word order and function words ... in addition to the few
inflexional endings in English,"

The Negative Effects of Teaching Traditional Grammar

It is clear that traditional grammar is a polarizing subject for experts, but how
does it really affect students? George Hillocks explains some of the
drawbacks of school grammar in practice: "The study of traditional school
grammar (i.e., the definition of parts of speech, the parsing of sentences, etc.)
has no effect on raising the quality of student writing. Every other focus of
instruction examined in this review is stronger. Taught in certain ways,
grammar and mechanics instruction has a deleterious effect on student
writing. In some studies a heavy emphasis on mechanics and usage (e.g.,
marking every error) resulted in significant losses in overall quality.
School boards, administrators, and teachers who impose the systematic study
of traditional school grammar on their students over lengthy periods of time in

8
the name of teaching writing do them a gross disservice that should not be
tolerated by anyone concerned with the effective teaching of good writing. We
need to learn how to teach standard usage and mechanics after careful
analysis and with minimal grammar,"

The Persistence of Traditional Grammar

Of course, traditional grammar persists despite many opponents and
questionable benefits. Why? This excerpt from Working With Words explains
why traditional grammar is perpetuated. "Why do the media cling to traditional
grammar and its sometimes outdated rules? Mainly because they like the
prescriptive approach of traditional grammar rather than the descriptive
approach of structural and transformational grammar ... Why? Inconsistencies
in the style of a newspaper, online news site, magazine or book draw attention
to themselves when readers should instead be concentrating on the content.
...
Besides, consistency saves time and money. ... If we agree on conventions,
we can avoid wasting each other's time ... But the prescriptive rules have to be
amended occasionally to reflect not only changes in the language but also
research that proves traditional advice may have been inaccurate. The work of
linguists is essential for making such calls on the best evidence available,"
Transformational Grammar
A theory of grammar that accounts for the constructions of a language by
linguistic transformations and phrase structures. "In transformational grammar,
the term 'rule' is used not for a precept set down by an external authority but
for a principle that is unconsciously yet regularly followed in the production
and interpretation of sentences. A rule is a direction for forming a sentence or
a part of a sentence, which has been internalized by the native speaker"

"The era of Transformational-Generative Grammar, as it is called,

signifies a sharp break with the linguistic tradition of the first half of the
[twentieth] century both in Europe and America because, having as its
principal objective the formulation of a finite set of basic and
transformational rules that explain how the native speaker of a language
can generate and comprehend all its possible grammatical sentences, it
focuses mostly on syntax and not on phonology or morphology, as
structuralism does"

Observations

"The new linguistics, which began in 1957 with the publication of Noam
Chomsky's Syntactic Structures, deserves the label 'revolutionary.' After
1957, the study of grammar would no longer be limited to what is said
and how it is interpreted. In fact, the word grammar itself took on a new

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 meaning. The new linguistics defined grammar as our innate,
subconscious ability to generate language, an internal system of rules
that constitutes our human language capacity. The goal of the new
linguistics was to describe this internal grammar.

"Unlike the structuralists, whose goal was to examine the sentences we

actually speak and to describe their systemic nature, the
transformationalists wanted to unlock the secrets of language: to build
a model of our internal rules, a model that would produce all of the
grammatical—and no ungrammatical—sentences." (M. Kolln and R.
Funk, Understanding English Grammar. Allyn and Bacon, 1998)

"From the word go, it has often been clear that Transformational
Grammar was the best available theory of language structure, while
lacking any clear grasp of what distinctive claims the theory made about
human language."

Surface Structures and Deep Structures

"When it comes to syntax, [Noam] Chomsky is famous for proposing

that beneath every sentence in the mind of a speaker is an invisible,
inaudible deep structure, the interface to the mental lexicon. The deep
structure is converted by transformational rules into a surface
structure that corresponds more closely to what is pronounced and
heard. The rationale is that certain constructions, if they were listed in
the mind as surface structures, would have to be multiplied out in
thousands of redundant variations that would have to have been
learned one by one, whereas if the constructions were listed as deep
structures, they would be simple, few in number, and economically
learned." (Steven Pinker, Words and Rules. Basic Books, 1999)

Transformational Grammar and the Teaching of Writing

"Though it is certainly true, as many writers have pointed out, that

sentence-combining exercises existed before the advent of
transformational grammar, it should be evident that the
transformational concept of embedding gave sentences combining a
theoretical foundation upon which to build. By the time Chomsky and his
followers moved away from this concept, sentence combining had
enough momentum to sustain itself." (Ronald F. Lunsford, "Modern
Grammar and Basic Writers."

The Transformation of Transformational Grammar

"Chomsky initially justified replacing phrase-structure grammar by

arguing that it was awkward, complex, and incapable of providing

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 adequate accounts of language. Transformational grammar offered a
simple and elegant way to understand language, and it offered new
insights into the underlying psychological mechanisms.

"As the grammar matured, however, it lost its simplicity and much of its
elegance. In addition, transformational grammar has been plagued by
Chomsky's ambivalence and ambiguity regarding meaning. . . .
Chomsky continued to tinker with transformational grammar, changing
the theories and making it more abstract and in many respects more
complex, until all but those with specialized training in linguistics were
befuddled. . . .

"[T]he tinkering failed to solve most of the problems because Chomsky

refused to abandon the idea of deep structure, which is at the heart of
T-G grammar but which also underlies nearly all of its problems. Such
complaints have fueled the paradigm shift to cognitive grammar."

"In the years since transformational grammar was formulated, it has

gone through a number of changes. In the most recent version,
Chomsky (1995) has eliminated many of the transformational rules in
previous versions of the grammar and replaced them with broader rules,
such as a rule that moves one constituent from one location to another.
It was just this kind of rule on which the trace studies were based.
Although newer versions of the theory differ in several respects from the
original, at a deeper level they share the idea that syntactic structure is
at the heart of our linguistic knowledge. However, this view has been
controversial within linguistics."

Universal Grammar
The system of categories, operations, and principles shared by all human
languages and considered to be innate. "Taken together, the linguistic
principles of Universal Grammar constitute a theory of the organization of the
initial state of the mind/brain of the language learner--that is, a theory of the
human faculty for language"
If 10 varieties of grammar aren't enough for you, rest assured that new
grammars are emerging all the time. There's word grammar, for instance. And
relational grammar. Not to mention case grammar, cognitive grammar,
construction grammar, lexical functional grammar, lexicogrammar,
head-driven phrase structure grammar and many more.

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History and Background
The concept of a universal grammar (UG) has been traced to the observation
of Roger Bacon, a 13th-century Franciscan friar, and philosopher, that all
languages are built upon a common grammar. The expression was
popularized in the 1950s and 1960s by Chomsky and other linguists.
Components that are considered to be universal include the notion that words
can be classified into different groups, such as being nouns or verbs and that
sentences follow a particular structure. Sentence structures may be different
between languages, but each language has some kind of framework so that
speakers can understand each other vs. speaking gibberish. Grammar rules,
borrowed words, or idioms of a particular language by definition are not
universal grammar.

Challenges and Criticisms

Of course, any theory in an academic setting will have challenges, comments,
and criticisms by others in the field; such as it is with peer review and the
academic world, where people build on the body of knowledge through writing
academic papers and publishing their opinions.
Swarthmore College linguist K. David Harrison noted in The Economist, "I and
many fellow linguists would estimate that we only have a detailed scientific
description of something like 10% to 15% of the world's languages, and for
85% we have no real documentation at all. Thus it seems premature to begin
constructing grand theories of universal grammar. If we want to understand
universals, we must first know the particulars."
And Jeff Mielke finds some aspects of universal grammar theory to be illogical:
"[T]he phonetic motivation for Universal Grammar is extremely weak. Perhaps
the most compelling case that can be made is that phonetics, like semantics,
is part of the grammar and that there is an implicit assumption that if the
syntax is rooted in Universal Grammar, the rest should be too. Most of the
evidence for UG is not related to phonology, and phonology has more of a
guilt-by-association status with respect to innateness."
Iain McGilchrist disagrees with Pinkner and took the side of children learning a
language just through imitation, which is a behaviorist approach, as opposed
to the Chomsky theory of the poverty of the stimulus:
"[I]t is uncontroversial that the existence of a universal grammar such as
Chomsky conceived it is highly debatable. It remains remarkably speculative
50 years after he posited it, and is disputed by many important names in the
field of linguistics. And some of the facts are hard to square with it. Languages
across the world, it turns out, use a very wide variety of syntax to structure
sentences. But more importantly, the theory of universal grammar is not
convincingly compatible with the process revealed by developmental
psychology, whereby children actually acquire language in the real world.

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Children certainly evince a remarkable ability to grasp spontaneously the
conceptual and psycholinguistic shapes of speech, but they do so in a far
more holistic, than analytic, way. They are astonishingly good imitators—note,
not copying machines, but imitators."

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 The 9 Parts of Speech

A part of speech is a term used in traditional grammar for one of the nine main
categories into which words are classified according to their functions in
sentences, such as nouns or verbs. Also known as word classes, these are
the building blocks of grammar.
Every sentence you write or speak in English includes words that fall into
some of the nine parts of speech. These include nouns, pronouns, verbs,
adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, articles/determiners, and
interjections. (Some sources include only eight parts of speech and leave
interjections in their own category.)
Learning the names of the parts of speech probably won't make you witty,
healthy, wealthy, or wise. In fact, learning just the names of the parts of
speech won't even make you a better writer. However, you will gain a basic
understanding of sentence structure and the English language by familiarizing
yourself with these labels.
The parts of speech are commonly divided into open classes (nouns, verbs,
adjectives, and adverbs) and closed classes (pronouns, prepositions,
conjunctions, articles/determiners, and interjections). The idea is that open
classes can be altered and added to as language develops and closed
classes are pretty much set in stone. For example, new nouns are created
every day, but conjunctions never change.
In contemporary linguistics, the label part of speech has generally been
discarded in favor of the term word class or syntactic category. These terms
make words easier to qualify objectively based on word construction rather
than context. Within word classes, there is the lexical or open class and the
function or closed class.
Read about each part of speech below and get started practicing identifying
each.

Noun
In English grammar, a noun is a part of speech (or word class) that names or
identifies a person, place, thing, quality, idea, or activity. Most nouns have both
a singular and plural form, can be preceded by an article and/or one or more
adjectives, and can serve as the head of a noun phrase.
A noun or noun phrase can function as a subject, direct object, indirect object,
complement, appositive, or object of a preposition. In addition, nouns
sometimes modify other nouns to form compound nouns. To understand how
to recognize and use nouns, it's helpful to learn about the different types of
nouns in English.

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Common Noun
A common noun names any person, place, thing, activity, or idea. It's a noun
that is not the name of any particular person, place, thing, or idea. A common
noun is one or all of the members of a class, which can be preceded by a
definite article, such as the or this, or an indefinite article, such as a or an.
Examples of common nouns are sprinkled throughout these two sentences:
"Plants rely on the wind, birds, bees, and butterflies — and other pollinating
insects — to transfer pollen from flower to flower. Some of our 'other'
pollinating insects are flies, wasps, and beetles."

- Nancy Bauer, "The California Wildlife Habitat Garden"

Note how all of the italicized words are common nouns, which make up the
vast majority of nouns in English.
Proper Noun
A proper noun names specific or unique individuals, events, or places, and
may include real or fictional characters and settings. Unlike common nouns,
most proper nouns, like Fred, New York, Mars, and Coca-Cola, begin with a
capital letter. They may also be referred to as proper names for their function
of naming specific things. An example would be this famous movie line:
"Houston, we have a problem."

- "Apollo 13"

In the sentence, the word Houston is a proper noun because it names a

specific place, while the word problem is a common noun, which expresses a
thing or idea.
Proper nouns are not typically preceded by articles or other determiners, but
there are numerous exceptions such as the Bronx or the Fourth of July. Most
proper nouns are singular, but again, there are exceptions as in the United
States and the Joneses.
Concrete and Abstract Nouns
A concrete noun names a material or tangible object or phenomenon —
something recognizable through the senses, such as chicken or egg.
An abstract noun, by contrast, is a noun or noun phrase that names an idea,
event, quality or concept — courage, freedom, progress, love, patience,
excellence, and friendship. An abstract noun names something that can't be
physically touched. According to "A Comprehensive Grammar of the English
Language", abstract nouns are "typically nonobservable and nonmeasurable.”
In comparing these two types of nouns, Tom McArthur notes in "The Concise
Oxford Companion to the English Language":

2
"... an abstract noun refers to an action, concept, event, quality, or state (love,
conversation), whereas a concrete noun refers to a touchable, observable
person or thing (child, tree)."

Collective Noun
A collective noun (such as team, committee, jury, squad, orchestra, crowd,
audience, and family) refers to a group of individuals. It is also known as a
group noun. In American English, collective nouns usually take singular verb
forms and can be replaced by both singular and plural pronouns, depending
on their meaning.
Count and Mass Nouns
A count noun refers to an object or idea that can form a plural or occur in a
noun phrase with an indefinite article or with numerals. Most common nouns
in English are countable — they have both singular and plural forms. Many
nouns have both countable and uncountable uses, such as the countable
dozen eggs and the uncountable egg on his face.
A mass noun — advice, bread, knowledge, luck, and work — names things
that, when used in English, cannot usually be counted. A mass noun (also
known as a noncount noun) is generally used only in the singular. Many
abstract nouns are uncountable, but not all uncountable nouns are abstract.
Other Types of Nouns
There are two other types of nouns. Some style guides might separate them
into their own categories, but they are really special types of nouns that fall
within the categories described previously.
Denominal nouns: A denominal noun is formed from another noun, usually
by adding a suffix, such as villager (from village), New Yorker (from New
=
York), booklet (from book), limeade (from lime), guitarist (from guitar),
-

±
spoonful (from spoon), and librarian (from library).
-

Denominal nouns are context-sensitive; they depend on the context for their
meaning. For example, while a librarian usually works in a library, a
seminarian usually studies in a seminary.
Verbal nouns: A verbal noun (sometimes called a gerund) is derived from a
verb (usually by adding the suffix -ing) and exhibits the ordinary properties of a
noun. For example:

His firing of William was a mistake.

-

My mother didn't like the idea of my writing a book about her.

-

In the first sentence, the word firing derives from the word fire but functions as
a verbal noun. In the second sentence, the word writing derives from the verb
write, but it functions here as a verbal noun.

3
Pronoun
In English grammar, a pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun, noun
phrase, or noun clause. The pronoun is one of the traditional parts of speech.
A pronoun can function as a subject, object, or complement in a sentence.
Unlike nouns, pronouns rarely allow modification. Pronouns are a closed word
class in English: new members rarely enter the language. To understand how
to recognize and correctly use pronouns, it can be helpful to review the types
of pronouns that exist in English.

Demonstrative Pronouns
A demonstrative pronoun points to a particular noun or to the noun it replaces.
"These pronouns can indicate items in space or time, and they can be either
singular or plural," says Ginger Software. When used to represent a thing or
things, demonstrative pronouns can be either near or far in distance or time,
says the online grammar, punctuation, and spelling checker, offering these
examples:

Near in time or distance: this, these

Far in time or distance: that, those

There are three basic rules for using demonstrative pronouns:

1. They always identify nouns, such as: I can’t believe this. The writer
does not know what this is, but it exists.
2. They often describe animals, places, or things but they can also
describe people, such as: This sounds like Mary singing.
3. They stand alone, distinguishing them from demonstrative adjectives,
which qualify (or modify) nouns.

Demonstrative pronouns can be used in place of a noun, so long as the noun

being replaced can be understood from the pronoun’s context:

This was my mother’s ring.

These are nice shoes, but they look uncomfortable.
None of these answers is correct.

Indefinite Pronouns
An indefinite pronoun refers to an unspecified or unidentified person or thing.
Put another way, an indefinite pronoun doesn't have an antecedent. Indefinite
pronouns include quantifiers (some, any, enough, several, many, or much);
universals (all, both, every, or each); and partitives (any, anyone, anybody,
either, neither, no, nobody, some, or someone). For example:

4
 Everyone did as he pleased.
Both of us match the donation.
Some coffee is left.

Many of the indefinite pronouns can function as determiners.

Interrogative Pronouns
The term interrogative pronoun refers to a pronoun that introduces a question.
These words are also called a pronominal interrogative. Related terms include
interrogative, "wh"-word, and question word, although these terms are usually
not defined in precisely the same way. In English, who, whom, whose, which,
and what commonly function as interrogative pronouns, for example:
"Even if you do learn to speak correct English, whom are you going to speak it
to?"
- Clarence Darrow
When immediately followed by a noun, whose, which, and what function as
-

determiners or interrogative adjectives. When they start a question,

interrogative pronouns have no antecedent, because what they refer to is
precisely what the question is trying to find out.

Reflexive Pronouns
A reflexive pronoun ends in -self or -selves and is used as an object to refer to
a previously named noun or pronoun in a sentence. It can also simply be
called a reflexive. Reflexive pronouns usually follow verbs or prepositions. For
example:
"Good breeding consists of concealing how much we think of ourselves and
how little we think of the other person."
- Mark Twain
Reflexive pronouns, which have the forms myself, ourselves, yourself,
yourselves, himself, herself, itself, oneself, and themselves, are essential to
the meaning of a sentence.

Intensive Pronouns
An intensive pronoun ends in -self or -selves and emphasizes its antecedent.
It is also known as an intensive reflexive pronoun. Intensive pronouns often
appear as appositives after nouns or other pronouns, for example:
word phrase that re describe the noun

"He wondered, as he had many times wondered before, whether he himself

was a lunatic."
- George Orwell, "Nineteen Eighty-Four"

5
Intensive pronouns have the same forms as reflexive pronouns: myself,
ourselves, yourself, yourselves, himself, herself, itself, oneself, and
themselves. Unlike reflexive pronouns, intensive pronouns are not essential to
the basic meaning of a sentence.

Personal Pronouns
A personal pronoun refers to a particular person, group, or thing. Like all
pronouns, personal pronouns can take the place of nouns and noun phrases.
These are the personal pronouns in English:

First-person singular: I ( subject), me (object)

First-person plural: we (subject), us (object)
Second-person singular and plural: you (subject and object)
Third-person singular: he, she, it (subject), him, her, it (object)
Third-person plural: they (subject), them (object)

Note that personal pronouns inflect for case to show whether they are serving
as subjects of clauses or as objects of verbs or prepositions. All the personal
pronouns except you have distinct forms indicating number, either singular or
plural. Only the third-person singular pronouns have distinct forms indicating
gender: masculine (he, him), feminine (she, her), and neuter (it). A personal
pronoun (such as they) that can refer to both masculine and feminine entities
is called a generic pronoun.

Possessive Pronouns
A possessive pronoun can take the place of a noun phrase to show
ownership, as in, "This phone is mine." The weak possessives (also called
possessive determiners) function as determiners in front of nouns, as in, "My
phone is broken." The weak possessives are my, your, his, her, its, our, and
their.
In contrast, the strong (or absolute) possessive pronouns stand on their own:
mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, and theirs. The strong possessive is a type of
independent genitive. A possessive pronoun never takes an apostrophe.

Reciprocal Pronouns
A reciprocal pronoun expresses a mutual action or relationship. In English, the
reciprocal pronouns are each other and one another, as in this example:
"Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other."
- John F. Kennedy, in a speech prepared for delivery on the day of his
assassination, Nov. 22, 1963

6
Some usage guides insist that each other should be used to refer to two
people or things, and one another to more than two.

Relative Pronouns
A relative pronoun introduces an adjective clause (also called a relative
clause), as in:
"Spaghetti at her table, which was offered at least three times a week, was a
mysterious red, white, and brown concoction."
- Maya Angelou, "Mom & Me & Mom"
The standard relative pronouns in English are which, that, who, whom, and
whose. Who and whom refer only to people. Which refers to things, qualities,
and ideas—never to people. That and whose refer to people, things, qualities,
_

and ideas.

Verb
A verb is the part of speech (or word class) that describes an action or
occurrence or indicates a state of being. Verbs and verb phrases usually
function as predicates. Verbs can display differences in tense, mood, aspect,
number, person, and voice.
There are two main classes of verbs: lexical verbs (also known as main
verbs), which aren't dependent on other verbs, and auxiliary verbs (also called
helping verbs). As with lexical versus auxiliary verbs, many types of verbs
come in opposites.
Lexical vs. Auxiliary
Lexical verbs—also called full verbs—convey the semantic (or lexical)
meaning in a sentence, such as:

It rained last night.

I ran fast.
I ate the entire hamburger.

The great majority of verbs in English are lexical verbs. An auxiliary verb, by
contrast, determines the mood or tense of another verb in a phrase, for
example:

It will rain tonight.

In this sentence, the verb will helps the verb rain by pointing to the future. In
English, the auxiliary verbs are:

7
 Is, am, are, was, were
Be, being, been
Has, have, had
Do, does, did
Will, shall, should, would
Can, could
May, might, must

Dynamic vs. Stative

A dynamic verb is used primarily to indicate an action, process, or sensation
as opposed to a state, such as:

I bought a new guitar.

It is also called an action or event verb. There are three major types of
dynamic verbs:

Accomplishment verbs: expressing action that has a logical endpoint

Achievement verbs: expressing action that occurs instantaneously
Activity verbs: expressing action that can go on for an indefinite period
of time

A stative verb—such as be, have, know, like, own, seem, prefer, understand,
belong, doubt, and hate—describes a state, situation, or condition, as in:

Now I own a Gibson Explorer.

We are what we believe we are.

A stative verb primarily describes a state or situation as opposed to an action

or process. It can be a mental or emotional state as well as a physical state of
being. The situations are unchanging while they last and can continue for a
long or indefinite time period. These words are also known as state verbs or
static verbs.
Finite vs. Nonfinite
A finite verb expresses tense and can occur on its own in a main clause, as in:

She walked to school.

A finite verb shows agreement with a subject and is marked for tense. If there
is just one verb in a sentence, that verb is finite. Put another way, a finite verb
can stand by itself in a sentence.

8
Nonfinite verbs, meanwhile, are not marked for tense and do not show
agreement with a subject. A nonfinite verb (an infinitive or participle) doesn't
show a distinction in tense and can occur on its own only in a dependent
phrase or clause, as in:

While walking to school, she spotted a bluejay.

The main difference between finite and nonfinite verbs is that the former can
act as the root of an independent clause, or full sentence, while the latter
cannot. For example:

The man runs to the store to get a gallon of milk.

The word runs is a finite verb because it agrees with the subject (man) and
because it marks the tense (present tense). The word get is a nonfinite verb
because it does not agree with the subject or mark the tense. Rather, it is an
infinitive and depends on the main (finite) verb runs.
Regular vs. Irregular
A regular verb forms its verb tenses, especially the past tense and past
participle, by adding one in the set of generally accepted standardized
suffixes. Regular verbs are conjugated by adding -d, -ed, -ing, or -s to its base
form, unlike irregular verbs which have special rules for conjugation.
The majority of English verbs are regular. These are the principal parts of
regular verbs:

1. The base form: the dictionary term for a word like walk
2. The -s form: used in the singular third person, present tense like
walks
3. The -ed form: used in the past tense and past participle like walked
4. The -ing form: used in the present participle like walking

Regular verbs are predictable and always function the same regardless of
speaker. An irregular verb does not follow the usual rules for verb forms.
Verbs in English are irregular if they don't have the conventional -ed ending
(such as asked or ended) in the past tense and/or past participle forms.
Transitive vs. Intransitive
A transitive verb takes an object (a direct object and sometimes also an
indirect object):

She sells seashells.

9
An intransitive verb doesn't take a direct object:

She sat there quietly.

This distinction is especially tricky because many verbs have both transitive
and intransitive functions, depending on how they are used. The verb break,
for instance, sometimes takes a direct object (Rihanna breaks my heart) and
sometimes does not (When I hear your name, my heart breaks).
Phrasal vs. Prepositional
A phrasal verb is a type of compound verb made up of a verb (usually one of
action or movement) and a prepositional adverb—also known as an adverbial
particle. Phrasal verbs are sometimes called two-part verbs (take off and
leave out) or three-part verbs (look up to and look down on).
There are hundreds of phrasal verbs in English, many of them (such as tear
off, run out [of], and pull through) with multiple meanings. Linguist Angela
Downing points out in "English Grammar: A University Course" that phrasal
verbs are "one of the most distinctive features of present-day informal English,
both in their abundance and in their productivity." Phrasal verbs often appear
in idioms.
A prepositional verb, by contrast, is an idiomatic expression that combines a
verb and a preposition to make a new verb with a distinct meaning. Some
examples of prepositional verbs in English are care for, long for, apply for,
approve of, add to, resort to, result in, count on, and deal with.
The preposition in a prepositional verb is generally followed by a noun or
pronoun, and thus prepositional verbs are transitive.
Other Types of Verbs
Since verbs describe all actions or indicate all states of being in English, it's
not surprising that there are other types of verbs, which are important to know.
Catenative: A catenative verb can link with other verbs to form a chain or
series. Examples include ask, keep, promise, help, want, and seem.
Causative: A causative verb is used to indicate that some person or thing
makes—or helps to make—something happen. Examples of causative verbs
include make, cause, allow, help, have, enable, keep, hold, let, force, and
require, which can also be referred to as causal verbs or simply causatives.
Compound: A compound verb is made up of two or more words that function
as a single verb. Conventionally, verb compounds are written as either one
word (housesit) or two words joined with a hyphen (water-proof).

10
Copular: A copular verb is a specific type of linking verb that joins the subject
of a sentence or clause to a subject complement. For example, the word
functions as a copular verb in the sentences, "Jane is my friend" and "Jane is
friendly."
Iterative: An iterative verb indicates that an action is (or was) repeated, such
as, "Philip was kicking his sister."
Linking: A linking verb is a traditional term for a type of verb (such as a form
of be or seem) that joins the subject of a sentence to a word or phrase that
tells something about the subject. For example, is functions as a linking verb
in the sentence: The boss is unhappy.
Mental-state: A mental-state verb is a verb with a meaning related to
understanding, discovering, planning, or deciding. Mental-state verbs refer to
cognitive states that are generally unavailable for outside evaluation. For
example: Tom's teaching ability is known by all his colleagues.
Performative: A performative verb conveys the kind of speech act being
performed—such as promise, invite, apologize, predict, vow, request, warn,
insist, and forbid. It is also known as a speech-act verb or performative
utterance.
Prepositional: A prepositional verb is an idiomatic expression that combines
a verb and a preposition to make a new verb with a distinct meaning. Some
examples are care for, long for, apply for, approve of, add to, resort to, result
in, count on, and deal with.
Reporting: A reporting verb (such as say, tell, believe, reply, respond, or ask)
is used to indicate that discourse is being quoted or paraphrased, such as: I
highly recommend that you get a better lawyer. It is also called a
communication verb.

Adjective
An adjective is a part of speech (or word class) that modifies a noun or a
pronoun. In addition to their basic (or positive) forms (for example, big and
beautiful), most adjectives have two other forms: comparative (bigger and
more beautiful) and superlative (biggest and most beautiful). Adjectives
often—but not always—serve as modifiers, providing additional information
about another word or word group, such as a noun or noun phrase. But
adjectives can also themselves act as nouns in a sentence.
Learning a few basic grammatical rules and recognizing the various types of
adjectives will have you correctly using these important parts of speech in no
time. Below are the main types of adjectives you are likely to encounter in
English, together with accompanying explanations for each.

11
Absolute Adjectives
An absolute adjective—such as supreme or infinite—is an adjective with a
meaning that cannot be intensified or compared. It is also known as an
incomparable, ultimate, or absolute modifier. English Language Centers gives
this example of an absolute adjective:

He is dead.

In the sentence, the word dead is an absolute adjective. The person is either
dead or he is not, says the firm that offers online and in-person English
language courses. You cannot be deader than someone else and you cannot
be the deadest among a group. According to some style guides, absolute
adjectives are always in the superlative degree. However, some absolute
adjectives can be quantified by the addition of the word almost, nearly, or
virtually.
Attributive and Predicative Adjectives
An attributive adjective usually comes before the noun it modifies without a
linking verb. For example, take this sentence from Maya Angelou's work "I
Know Why the Caged Bird Sings":
"In those tender mornings, the Store was full of laughing, joking, boasting, and
bragging."

The word tender is an attributive adjective because it precedes and modifies

the noun mornings. Attributive adjectives are direct modifiers of nominals.
By contrast, a predicative adjective usually comes after a linking verb rather
than before a noun. Another term for a predicative adjective is a subject
complement. The Oxford Online Living Dictionaries gives this example:

The cat is black.

In general, when adjectives are used after a verb such as be, become, grow,
look, or seem, they’re called predicative adjectives, says the dictionary.
Appositive Adjectives
An appositive adjective is a traditional grammatical term for an adjective (or a
series of adjectives) that follows a noun and, like a nonrestrictive appositive, is
set off by commas or dashes. For example:
"Arthur was a big boy, tall, strong, and broad-shouldered."

– Janet B. Pascal, "Arthur Conan Doyle: Beyond Baker Street"

As the example shows, appositive adjectives often appear in pairs or groups

of three, called tricolons.

12
Comparative and Superlative Adjectives
The comparative adjective is the form of an adjective involving the
comparisons of more or less as well as greater or lesser.
Comparative adjectives in English are either marked by the suffix -er (as in
"the faster bike") or identified by the word more or less ("the more difficult
job"). Almost all one-syllable adjectives, along with some two-syllable
adjectives, add -er to the base to form the comparative. In most adjectives of
two or more syllables, the comparative is identified by the word more or less.
The superlative adjective, by comparison, is the form or degree of an adjective
that indicates the most or the least of something. Superlatives are either
marked by the suffix -est (as in "the fastest bike") or identified by the word
most or least ("the most difficult job"). Similar to comparative adjectives,
almost all one-syllable adjectives, along with some two-syllable adjectives,
add -est to the base to form the superlative. In most adjectives of two or more
syllables, the superlative is identified by the word most or least. Not all
adjectives have superlative forms.
After a superlative, in or of plus a noun phrase can be used to indicate what is
being compared (as in "the tallest building in the world" and "the best time of
my life").
Compound Adjectives
A compound adjective is made up of two or more words (such as part-time
and high-speed) that act as a single idea to modify a noun (a part-time
employee, a high-speed chase). Compound adjectives are also called phrasal
adjectives or compound modifiers.
As a general rule, the words in a compound adjective are hyphenated when
they come before a noun (a well-known actor) but not when they come after
(The actor is well known). Compound adjectives formed with an adverb ending
in -ly (such as rapidly changing) are usually not hyphenated.
Demonstrative Adjectives
A demonstrative adjective is a determiner that comes before and points to a
particular noun. Indeed, a demonstrative adjective is sometimes called a
demonstrative determiner. For example:

Son, take this bat and hit that ball out of the park.

There are four demonstratives in English:

The "near" demonstratives: this and these

The "far" demonstratives: that and those
The singular demonstratives: this and that
The plural demonstratives: these and those

13
Denominal Adjectives
A denominal adjective is formed from a noun, usually with the addition of a
suffix—such as hopeless, earthen, cowardly, childish, and Reaganesque. An
example would be:

Our new neighborhood seemed romantic, somehow, and very San

Francisco Ish, especially to a couple of young people who hailed from
Idaho.

In this sentence, the proper noun San Francisco is altered with the suffix -ish
to form the denominal adjective. These kinds of adjectives can heighten the
drama and descriptiveness of a sentence, as in this example:
"The president's oration was...Lincolnian in its cadences, and in some ways,
was the final, impassioned, heart-felt rebuke to all those, including his
opponent, who tried to portray him as somehow un-American."

– Andrew Sullivan, "The American President." The Daily Beast, Nov. 7, 2012

Nominal Adjectives
The term nominal adjective refers to an adjective or group of adjectives that
function as a noun. "The Complete English Grammar Rules" by Farlex
International notes that nominal adjectives are generally preceded by the word
the and can be found as the subject or the object of a sentence or clause. For
example:

The elderly are a great source of wisdom.

The word elderly generally acts as a true adjective—an elderly

gentleman—but in the previous sentence, it functions as a collective noun and
as the subject of the sentence. Nominal adjectives are also known as
substantive adjectives.
Participial Adjectives
A participial adjective is an adjective that has the same form as the participle
(a verb ending in -ing or -ed/-en) and usually exhibits the ordinary properties
of an adjective. For example:
"What kind of a man was he to fall in love with a lying thief?"

– Janet Dailey, "The Hostage Bride"

In the sentence, the verb lie is altered by adding the ending -ing to form the
participial adjective lying, which then describes the noun thief. Also, the
comparative and superlative forms of participial adjectives are formed with
more and most and less and least—not with the endings -er and -est.

14
Adjectival Observations
Not everyone is a fan of adjectives. Constance Hale, in "Sin and Syntax: How
to Craft Wickedly Effective Prose," noted that the famous humorist and author
Mark Twain had some rather negative comments about this part of speech:
"When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don't mean utterly, but kill most of
them—then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when they are close
together. They give strength when they are wide apart."

And in his 2002 memorial eulogy to former British Cabinet Minister Barbara
Castle, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw recalled her remark:
"Bugger the adjectives. It's the nouns and verbs people want."

– Ned Halley, "Dictionary of Modern English Grammar"

Nouns generally are the subject of a sentence, while verbs do describe the
action or state of being. But used effectively and correctly, as you see from the
previous examples, adjectives can indeed enhance many sentences by
adding colorful, vivid, and detailed description, increasing interest in an
otherwise mundane sentence.

Adverb
An adverb is a part of speech (or word class) that's primarily used to modify a
verb, adjective, or other adverbs and can additionally modify prepositional
phrases, subordinate clauses, and complete sentences. Put another way,
adverbs are content words that provide information about how, when, or
where something happens. Adverbs are also called intensifiers because they
intensify the meaning of the word or words they are modifying.
An adverb that modifies an adjective—as in quite sad—or another adverb—as
in very carelessly—appears immediately in front of the word it modifies, but
one that modifies a verb is generally more flexible: It may appear before or
after—as in softly sang or sang softly—or at the beginning of the
sentence—Softly she sang to the baby—with the position of an adverb
typically affecting the meaning of the sentence. Adverbs can modify a verb or
adjective in several ways, by providing information about emphasis, manner,
time, place, and frequency.

Adverbs of Emphasis
Adverbs of emphasis are used to give added force or a greater degree of
certainty to another word in a sentence or to the sentence as a whole, for
example:

He certainly liked the food.

She is clearly the frontrunner.
Naturally, I like my chicken crispy.

15
Other common adverbs of emphasis include absolutely, definitely, obviously,
positively, really, simply, and undoubtedly. These types of adverbs serve to
bolster the part of speech they modify.

Adverbs of Manner
Adverbs of manners indicate how something is done. They are usually placed
at the end of a sentence or before the main verb, as in:

Tom drives quickly.

She slowly opened the door.
Mary waited for him patiently.

Other examples of adverbs of manners include quietly, fitfully, and carefully.

Adverbs of Time
Adverbs of time tell you when or at what time something is done. Adverbs of
time are usually placed at the end of a sentence. They can also be used at the
beginning of a sentence followed by a comma.

The meeting is next week.

Yesterday, we decided to take a walk.
I've already bought my tickets for the concert.

These adverbs are used with other time expressions, such as days of the
week. The most common adverbs of time include yet, already, yesterday,
tomorrow, next week (or month or year), last week (or month or year), now,
and ago.

Adverbs of Place
Adverbs of place indicate where something is done and usually appear at the
end of a sentence, but they can also follow the verb.

I decided to rest over there.

She'll wait for you in the room downstairs.
Peter walked above me upstairs.

Adverbs of place can be confused with prepositional phrases such as in the

doorway or at the shop. Prepositional phrases indicate where something is,
but adverbs of place can tell you where something occurs, such as here and
everywhere.

16
Adverbs of Frequency
Adverbs of frequency tell you how often something is repeatedly done. They
include usually, sometimes, never, often, and rarely. Adverbs of frequency are
often placed directly before the main verb:

She rarely goes to parties.

I often read a newspaper.
He usually gets up at 6 o'clock.

Adverbs of frequency that express infrequency are not used in the negative or
question form. Sometimes, adverbs of frequency are placed at the beginning
of a sentence:

Sometimes, I enjoy staying at home instead of going on vacation.

Often, Peter will telephone his mother before he leaves for work.

Adverbs of frequency follow the verb to be:

He is sometimes late for work.

I am often confused by computers.

Adverbs Modifying Adjectives

When adverbs modify an adjective, they are placed before the adjective:

She is extremely happy.

They are absolutely sure.

However, do not use very with adjectives to express increased quality of a

basic adjective, such as fantastic:

She is an absolutely fantastic piano player.

Mark is an absolutely amazing lecturer.

You would not say, "She is very fantastic," or "Mark is a very amazing
lecturer."

Forming Adverbs From Adjectives

Adverbs are often formed by adding -ly to an adjective, such as:

Beautiful > beautifully

Careful > carefully

However, some adjectives don't change in the adverb form, such as fast and
hard. Many common adverbs like just, still, and almost do not end in -ly. Good

17
is probably the most important example. The adverb form of good is well, as
in:

He is good at tennis.
He plays tennis well.

In the first sentence, good is an adjective that modifies the pronoun he; while
in the second, well is an adverb that modifies plays (explains how he plays
tennis). Additionally, not all words that end in -ly are adverbs, such as friendly
and neighborly, which are both adjectives.

Distinguishing Between Adverbs and Adjectives

Sometimes the same word can be both an adjective and an adverb. To
distinguish between them, it is important to look at the context of the word and
its function in a sentence.
For instance, in the sentence, "The fast train from London to Cardiff leaves at
3 o'clock," the word fast modifies and comes before a noun, train, and is,
therefore, an attributive adjective. However, in the sentence, "The sprinter took
the bend fast," the word fast modifies the verb took and is, therefore, an
adverb.
Interestingly, -ly is not the only suffix that can be added to the end of a word to
change its meaning or be used by both adjectives and adverbs. Additionally,
-er and -est can combine with adverbs in a much more limited way wherein
the comparative form of an adverb is likely to add more or most to the
beginning of the adverb phrase rather than adding an -er or -est.
It's important to refer to context clues when hints like the addition of an -ly or
the word most to accompany a word doesn't tell you whether it is an adjective
or adverb. Look at the word that is being emphasized. If the word being
emphasized is a noun, you have an adjective; if the word being emphasized is
a verb, you have an adverb.

Preposition
In English grammar, a preposition is a word that shows the relationship
between a noun or pronoun and other words in a sentence. Prepositions are
words like in and out, above and below, and to and from, and they're words
we use all the time.
How useful are prepositions? Just look at how many prepositions are italicized
in this simple sentence from E.B. White's Charlotte's Web: "For the first few
days of his life, Wilbur was allowed to live in a box near the stove in the
kitchen."

18
Prepositions in English Grammar
Prepositions are one of the basic parts of speech and are among the words
that we use most when composing sentences. They are also a member of a
closed word class, meaning that it is very rare for a new preposition to enter
the language. There are only about 100 of them in English.
Prepositions often refer to location ("under the table"), direction ("to the
south"), or time ("past midnight"). They can also be used to convey other
relationships: agency (by), comparison (like, as . . . as), possession (of),
purpose (for), or source (from, out of).

Simple Prepositions
Many prepositions are made up of only one word and are called simple
prepositions. These include short and very common words like as, at, by, for,
and of. You also use prepositions such as about, between, into, like, onto,
since, than, through, with, within, and without to show a relationship between
words.
There are many occasions where you might confuse prepositions. For
example, sometimes it is difficult to know when you should use in, into, on, or
at. This is because their meanings are very similar, so you have to look at the
context of the sentence.
Many prepositions have an opposite as well. For instance, you can use before
or after, inside or outside, off or on, over or under, and up or down.
Quite a few prepositions express the relationship of things in space. Examples
of these include aboard, across, amid, among, around, atop, behind, beneath,
beside, beyond, near, over, round, and upon.
Prepositions can also refer to time. Among the most common are after, before,
during, till, and until.
Other prepositions have unique uses or can be used in multiple ways. Some
of these include about, against, along, despite, regarding, throughout, toward,
and unlike.

Complex Prepositions
In addition to the simple prepositions, several word groups can perform the
same grammatical function. These are called complex prepositions. They are
two- or three-word units that combine one or two simple prepositions with
another word.
Within this category, you have phrases like in addition to and such as.
Whenever you say thanks to or in between, you are also using a complex
preposition.

19
Identifying Prepositional Phrases
Prepositions are not in the habit of standing alone. A word group with a
preposition at the head followed by an object (or complement) is called a
prepositional phrase. The object of a preposition is typically a noun or
pronoun: Gus put the horse before the cart.
Prepositional phrases add meaning to the nouns and verbs in sentences.
They usually tell us where, when, or how and the words of a prepositional
phrase can often be rearranged.
A prepositional phrase may do the work of an adjective and modify a noun:
The student in the back row began to snore loudly. It may also function as an
adverb and modify a verb: Buster fell asleep during class.
Learning to identify prepositional phrases is often a matter of practice. After
some time you will come to realize how frequently we rely on them.

Ending a Sentence With a Preposition

You may have heard the "rule" that you should never end a sentence with a
preposition. This is one of those "rules" that you don't have to put up with. It is
based on the etymology of "preposition," from the Greek for "put in front," as
well as a false analogy to Latin.
As long ago as 1926, Henry Fowler dismissed the rule about "preposition
stranding" as "a cherished superstition" ignored by major writers from
Shakespeare to Thackeray. In fact, in "A Dictionary of Modern English Usage"
he said, "the remarkable freedom enjoyed by English in putting its prepositions
late and omitting its relatives is an important element in the flexibility of the
language."
Essentially, you can ignore this rule, and you can cite Fowler to anyone who
tells you otherwise. Go ahead and end your sentence with a preposition if you
want to.

Prepositions Functioning as Another Part of Speech

Just because you see one of the prepositions we've mentioned used, does not
mean that they are being used as a preposition. It depends on the
circumstances, and this is one of those tricky parts of the English language, so
don't let these fool you.
Certain prepositions (after, as, before, since, until) serve as subordinating
conjunctions when they're followed by a clause:

You better get out of town before sundown. (Before is used as a

preposition.)
Many people run out of ideas long before they run out of words. (Before
is used as a conjunction.)

20
Some prepositions (including about, across, around, before, down, in, on, out,
and up) also moonlight as adverbs. These are sometimes called prepositional
adverbs or adverbial particles.

Beth walked up the driveway. (The preposition up is followed by the

object.)
Beth looked up. (The prepositional adverb up is modifying the verb
looked.)

Deverbal Prepositions
Transitive prepositions that take the same form as -ing participles or -ed
participles are called deverbal prepositions. It is a rather short list, but it is
important to understand that these are also prepositions.

according (to)
allowing (for)
barring
concerning
counting
excepting
excluding
failing
following
given
gone
granted
including
owing (to)
pertaining (to)
regarding
respecting
saving
touching
wanting

Conjunction
A conjunction is the part of speech (or word class) that serves to connect
words, phrases, clauses, or sentences. The common conjunctions (and, but,
for, or, nor, so, and yet) join the elements of a coordinate structure and are
thus called coordinating conjunctions. They connect words, phrases, and
clauses of equal rank. In contrast, subordinating conjunctions connect clauses
of unequal rank. Correlative conjunctions (such as neither...nor) pair things
together as subjects or objects in a sentence, which is why they're also called
pairing conjunctions.

21
Coordinating Conjunctions
You use coordinating conjunctions to connect two simple sentences with a
comma. The two parts of the sentence, if split apart without the conjunction,
could stand alone as sentences, as they both have a subject and a verb. Said
another way, both parts of the sentence are independent clauses. They could
also be joined with a semicolon.

With coordinating conjunction: The white kitten was cute, but I chose
the tabby instead.
With coordinating conjunction: The white kitten was cute, yet I chose the
tabby.
As two sentences: The white kitten was cute. I chose the tabby instead.
With a semicolon: The white kitten was cute; I chose the tabby instead.

Coordinating conjunctions can also be used in items in a series or to create a

compound subject or predicate.

Items in a series: Harry needed to pick a Siamese, tortoiseshell, calico,

or a tabby cat.
Compound subject: Sheila and Harry both enjoyed playing with all the
kittens.
Compound predicate: The kittens jumped around and played with all the
people who came to greet them.

Notice that you don't use a comma before the conjunction in a compound
predicate because both verbs belong to the same subject. There aren't two
independent clauses.
A sentence style that employs many coordinate conjunctions is called
polysyndeton. For example: "There's a Labrador and a poodle and a German
shepherd and a Chihuahua!"

Using Subordinating Clauses

A clause that couldn't stand alone as its own sentence is a dependent clause.
When you connect a dependent clause to a sentence, you'll use a
subordinating conjunction, such as in the following:

With a subordinating clause: It closed its eyes and purred at me when I

picked up the tabby cat.
A second version of the sentence: When I picked up the tabby cat, it
closed its eyes and purred at me.

You couldn't make the two clauses in this sentence into two sentences as
they're written. "When I picked up the tabby cat," would be a sentence
fragment (an incomplete thought) if read alone. Thus, it's dependent (or

22
subordinate) to the main clause of the sentence, the independent clause,
which could stand alone: "It closed its eyes and purred at me."
Subordinating conjunctions can be classified into several groups:

Causality: because, since, as

Time: when, as soon as, before, after, while, by the time
Contrast/Opposition: though, although, even though, while, whereas,
rather than
Condition: if, unless, even if, only if, in case, provided that, so that,
whether

Subordinating Conjunctions List

The following is a list of subordinating conjunctions:

after although as as if

as long as as much as as soon as because

before but that by the time even if

even though how if in case

in order that lest only if provided that

rather than since so that supposing

than that though till ('til)

unless until when whenever

where whereas wherever whether

while why

Paired Conjunctions
Correlative conjunctions pair things together and go in a set. They include
either...or, neither...nor, not only...but also, both...and, not...nor, as...as.
Whether you use a comma before the second conjunction depends on

23
whether the clauses are independent or not (as in coordinating conjunctions
above).

Not two independent clauses: He picked out not only the Siamese cat
but also the Labrador puppy.
Two independent clauses: Not only did the Siamese cat lick her, but the
Labrador puppy also did.

Breaking the 'Rules'

A past adage was to never start a sentence with a coordinating conjunction,
but that's no longer. Starting sentences with "but" or "and" can be used to
break up long chunks of text or for rhythmic or dramatic effect. As with
anything used for effect, don't overdo it.

Practice Identifying Conjunctions

Examine the conjunctions in the following sentences. What type is each?

1. We needed to pick up milk, bread, and eggs from the store.

2. You grab the pet food, and I will look for the other items.
3. If you follow instructions, we could get this done faster.
4. It's either my way or the highway.

Conjunction Exercises Answers

1. And: coordinating conjunction connecting items in a series.

2. And: coordinating conjunction connecting two independent clauses.
3. If: subordinating conjunction.
4. Either...or: correlative or paired conjunctions.

Articles and Determiners

In English grammar, an article is a type of determiner that precedes and
provides context to a noun. A determiner is a word or a group of words that
specifies, identifies, or quantifies the noun or noun phrase that follows it:
There are only two types of articles in English, definite or indefinite. The three
main articles in English grammar are "the," "a," and "an." This grammatical
concept may sound simple, but there are some tricky rules related to using it
correctly.

Definite vs. Indefinite Articles

The only definite article is "the," which specifies a particular individual or thing
in a particular context. For example, in the title of a famous Sherlock Holmes
story "The Hound of the Baskervilles," the first word of the sentence is a

24
definite article because it refers to a specific case that the illustrious fictional
detective tried to (and, of course, did) solve.
By contrast, Purdue Owl notes the indefinite articles—"a" and "an"—signal
that the noun modified is indefinite, referring to any member of a group, or
something that cannot be identified specifically by the writer or speaker. An
example of a sentence containing both the "a" and "an" indefinite articles was
published in E.B. White's classic children's tale "Charlotte's Web."
"Mr. Arable fixed a small yard specially for Wilbur under an apple tree, and
gave him a large wooden box full of straw, with a doorway cut in it so he could
walk in and out as he pleased."
This example uses both "a," which is always used before a consonant sound,
and "an," which is always used before a vowel sound.

Using "A" and "An"

The key to knowing when to use "a" or "an" depends on the sound at the
beginning of the noun (or adjective) that is being modified, not whether the
noun or adjective actually begins with a vowel or consonant, notes study.com:
"If the noun (or adjective) that comes after the article begins with a vowel
sound, the appropriate indefinite article to use is 'an.' A vowel sound is a
sound that is created by any vowel in the English language: 'a,' 'e,' 'i,' 'o,' 'u,'
and sometimes 'y' if it makes an 'e' or 'i' sound."
By contrast, if the noun or adjective that comes after the article begins with a
consonant that actually sounds like a consonant, use "a." "The Complete
English Grammar Rules" presents some examples of when to use "a" or "an,"
depending on the sound of the first letter of the noun the article is modifying.

"What an unusual discovery." - This is correct because "unusual" starts

with a "u" that makes an "uh" sound.
"What a unique discovery." - This is correct because the adjective after
the article begins with a "u" that sounds like the consonant sound "yu."
I bought "a horse." - You use the "a" here because "horse" starts with an
"h" that sounds like the consonant "h."
"A historical event is worth recording." - Many folks think it should be
"an" historic," but the article "a" is correct because the "h" is pronounced
and sounds like the consonant "h."
"An hour" has passed. - In this case, you use "an" because the "h" in
hour is silent, and the noun actually begins with the vowel sound "ow."

Note that in the first two sentences above, the article actually precedes the
adjectives, "unusual" and "unique," but the articles actually modify the noun,
"discovery" in both sentences. Sometimes the article directly precedes an
adjective that modifies the noun. When this occurs, look at the first letter of the

25
adjective when determining whether to use "a" or "an" and then use the same
rules as those discussed above to determine which article to use.

Before Countable and Uncountable Nouns

When dealing with articles, nouns can either be:

Uncountable - You cannot count a specific number.

Countable - The noun does indicate a specific number.

When a noun is uncountable, it is preceded by an indefinite article—"a" or

"an." Butte College gives this example to illustrate both:

I ate an apple yesterday. The apple was juicy and delicious.

In the first sentence, "apple" is uncountable because you're not referring to a

specific apple; whereas, in the second sentence, "apple" is a countable noun
because you are referring to one specific apple.
Another example would be:

Would you like tea? or "Would you like some tea."

"I would like the tea."

In the first instance, "tea" is uncountable because you're not referring to a

specific tea, but instead, just to "some" tea (an undefinable number or
amount). In the second sentence, by contrast, the speaker is referring to a
specific cup or bottle of tea.

When to Omit Articles

As the first sentence in the previous example shows, you can sometimes omit
the article particularly when the number or quantity is not known. Sometimes
you would use the article in American English but not British English. For
example:

"I have to go to the hospital." (American English)

"I have to go to hospital." (British English)

Conversely, sometimes you omit the article in American English but not in
British English, as in:

"I played rugby." (American English)

"I play the rugby. (British English)

In these cases, the use, or omission, of the definite article depends on the
type of English being spoken.

26
Pronouns, Demonstratives, and Possessives
You can also replace articles with pronouns, demonstratives, and
possessives. They all work in the same way as a demonstrative
article—naming a specific thing:

In English grammar, a pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun,

noun phrase, or noun clause. So, instead of the sentence: "Give the
book to me," you would replace the definite article, "the," as well as the
noun it modifies, "book," with the pronoun, "it," to yield the sentence:
"Give it to me."
A demonstrative is a determiner or a pronoun that points to a particular
noun or to the noun it replaces. So, instead of saying: "The movie is
boring," you would replace the definite article, "the," with the
demonstrative "this" or "that" to yield: "This movie is boring" or "That
movie is boring."
A possessive pronoun is a pronoun that can take the place of a noun
phrase to show ownership. Instead of saying: "The tale is long and sad!"
you would replace the definite article, "the," to yield a sentence, such
as: "Mine is a long and sad tale!" In the first sentence, the definite
article, "the," modifies the noun, "tale." In the second sentence, the
possessive pronoun, "mine," also modifies the noun, "tale."

High-Ranking Words
According to Ben Yagoda's book "When You Catch an Adjective, Kill It: The
Parts of Speech, for Better and/or Worse," the word "the" is the most
commonly-used word in the English language. It occurs "nearly 62,000 times
in every million words written or uttered—or about once every 16 words."
Meanwhile, "a" ranks as the fifth most commonly used word—and "an" ranks
34th.
So take the time to learn these important words—as well as their
replacements, such as pronouns, demonstratives, and possessives—correctly
to boost your command of English grammar, and in the process, enlighten
your friends, impress your teachers, and gain the admiration of your
associates.

Interjection
An interjection, also known as an ejaculation or an exclamation, is a word,
phrase, or sound used to convey an emotion such as surprise, excitement,
happiness, or anger. Put another way, an interjection is a short utterance that
usually expresses emotion and is capable of standing alone.
Though interjections are one of the traditional parts of speech, they are
grammatically unrelated to any other part of a sentence. Interjections are very
common in spoken English, but they appear in written English as well. The

27
most widely used interjections in English include hey, oops, ouch, gee, oh, ah,
ooh, eh, ugh, aw, yo, wow, brr, sh, and yippee. In writing, an interjection is
typically followed by an exclamation point, but it can also be followed by a
comma if it is part of a sentence. Knowing the different kinds of interjections,
and understanding how to punctuate them, will help you use them correctly.

First Words
Interjections (such as oh and wow) are among the first words human beings
learn as children—usually by the age of 1.5 years. Eventually, children pick up
several hundred of these brief, often exclamatory utterances. As the
18th-century philologist Rowland Jones observed, "It appears that interjections
make up a considerable part of our language." Nevertheless, interjections are
commonly regarded as the outlaws of English grammar. The term itself,
derived from Latin, means "something thrown in between."
Interjections usually stand apart from normal sentences, defiantly maintaining
their syntactic independence. (Yeah!) They aren't marked inflectionally for
grammatical categories such as tense or number. (No sirree!) And because
they show up more frequently in spoken English than in writing, most scholars
have chosen to ignore them.
With the advent of corpus linguistics and conversation analysis, interjections
have recently begun to attract serious attention. Linguists and grammarians
have even segregated interjections into different categories.

Primary and Secondary

It's now customary to divide interjections into two broad classes:
Primary interjections are single words (such as ah, brr, eww, hmm, ooh,
and yowza) that are not derived from any other word class, are used only as
interjections, and don't enter into syntactic constructions. According to linguist
Martina Drescher, in her article "The Expressive Function of Language:
Towards a Cognitive Semantic Approach," which was published in "The
Language of Emotions: Conceptualization, Expression, and Theoretical
Foundation," primary interjections generally serve to "lubricate" conversations
in a ritualized manner.
Secondary interjections (such as bless you, congratulations, good grief, hey,
hi, oh my, oh my God, oh well, rats, and shoot) also belong to other word
classes. These expressions are often exclamatory and tend to mix with oaths,
swear words, and greeting formulas. Drescher describes secondary
interjections as "derivative uses of other words or locutions, which have lost
their original conceptual meanings"—a process known as semantic bleaching.
As written English grows more colloquial, both classes have migrated from
speech into print.

28
Punctuation
As noted, interjections are more commonly used in speech, but you might also
find yourself using these parts of speech in writing as well. "The Farlex
Complete English Grammar Rules" gives these examples:

Ooh, that's a beautiful dress.

Brr, it's freezing in here!
Oh my God! We've won!

Note how punctuating both primary and secondary interjections in writing

depends entirely on the context in which they are used. In the first example
above, the term ooh is technically a primary interjection that generally does
not enter into syntactic constructions. It often stands alone, and when it does,
the word is generally followed by an exclamation point, as in Ohh! Indeed, you
could reconstruct the sentence so that the primary interjection stands alone,
followed by an explanatory sentence, as in:

Ohh! That's a beautiful dress.

In the second sentence, the primary interjection brr is followed by a comma.

The exclamation point, then, does not come until the end of the connected
sentence. But again, the primary interjection could stand alone—and be
followed by an exclamation point—as in:

Brr! It's cold in here.

The third example contains a secondary interjection Oh my God that stands

apart from the second sentence, with the interjection and sentence both
ending in exclamation points. You can also use secondary interjections as
integral parts of sentences:

Hey, why did you let the dog in here?

Oh my, I knew I should have turned off the oven!
Good grief Charlie Brown! Just kick the football.

Of course, the creator of the "Peanuts" cartoons would have likely used the
secondary interjection more like a primary interjection. Indeed, a biography of
the famed illustrator uses the phrase in just that way:

Good Grief! The Story of Charles M. Schulz

Since interjections depend so heavily on how they are used in speech, the
punctuation they take varies greatly, according to context, but they are usually
followed by an exclamation point when standing alone or a comma when
introducing a sentence.

29
Versatile Parts of Speech
One of the more intriguing characteristics of interjections is their
multifunctionality: The same word may express praise or scorn, excitement or
boredom, joy or despair. Unlike the comparatively straightforward denotations
of other parts of speech, the meanings of interjections are largely determined
by intonation, context, and what linguists call pragmatic function, such as:
"Geez, you really had to be there."
As Kristian Smidt wrote in "Ideolectic Characterisation in A Doll's House"
published in Scandinavia: International Journal of Scandinavian Studies:
"You can fill it [the interjection] like a carrier bag with twenty different senses
and a hundred different shades of meaning, all dependent on context,
emphasis, and tonal accent. It can express anything from indifference to
comprehension, incomprehension, query, rebuttal, rebuke, indignation,
impatience, disappointment, surprise, admiration, disgust, and delight in any
number of degrees."
With interjections fulfilling such a large role in English, grammarians and
linguists are calling for more attention to and study of these important parts of
speech. As Douglas Biber, Stig Johansson, Geoffrey Leech, Susan Conrad,
and Edward Finegan note in "Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written
English:"
"If we are to describe spoken language adequately, we need to pay more
attention to [interjections] than has traditionally been done."
In an era of increasing communication via text messaging and social
media—which is often laced with interjections—experts say that paying more
attention to these loud and forceful parts of speech will help create a better
understanding of how human beings actually communicate. And that thought
certainly deserves a loud and forceful Youwza!

How to Determine the Part of Speech

Only interjections (Hooray!) have a habit of standing alone; every other part of
speech must be contained within a sentence and some are even required in
sentences (nouns and verbs). Other parts of speech come in many varieties
and may appear just about anywhere in a sentence.
To know for sure what part of speech a word falls into, look not only at the
word itself but also at its meaning, position, and use in a sentence.
For example, in the first sentence below, work functions as a noun; in the
second sentence, a verb; and in the third sentence, an adjective:

30
Bosco showed up for work two hours late.

The noun work is the thing Bosco shows up for.

He will have to work until midnight.
The verb work is the action he must perform.
His work permit expires next month.
The attributive noun [or converted adjective] work modifies the noun permit.
Learning the names and uses of the basic parts of speech is just one way to
understand how sentences are constructed.

Dissecting Basic Sentences

To form a basic complete sentence, you only need two elements: a noun (or
pronoun standing in for a noun) and a verb. The noun acts as a subject and
the verb, by telling what action the subject is taking, acts as the predicate.

Birds fly.

In the short sentence above, birds is the noun and fly is the verb. The
sentence makes sense and gets the point across.
You can have a sentence with just one word without breaking any sentence
formation rules. The short sentence below is complete because it's a
command to an understood "you".

Go!

Here, the pronoun, standing in for a noun, is implied and acts as the subject.
The sentence is really saying, "(You) go!"

Constructing More Complex Sentences

Use more parts of speech to add additional information about what's
happening in a sentence to make it more complex. Take the first sentence
from above, for example, and incorporate more information about how and
why birds fly.

Birds fly when migrating before winter.

Birds and fly remain the noun and the verb, but now there is more description.
When is an adverb that modifies the verb fly. The word before is a little tricky
because it can be either a conjunction, preposition, or adverb depending on
the context. In this case, it's a preposition because it's followed by a noun.
This preposition begins an adverbial phrase of time (before winter) that
answers the question of when the birds migrate. Before is not a conjunction
because it does not connect two clauses.

31
 FEE
.
 were
is
was
are
will be
was am

were
will be
am

was
are / were
is / was

will be

are

will ?
you be here tomorrow

Was Anne's father a teacher ?

we are not ready

when was
your birthday ?
weren't
Those chocolates
very good
Mary won't be at home next week

morning ?
was the train late this
I'm not
ready for the exam
Are
my car ?
the gloves in

My brother and I weren't

happy at school
Is there a telephone in the kitchen?
There won't be a lesson tomorrow

we don't
have a car
Do
they have
Does James any children?
have a cold ?
My mother doesn't have a cat
Does
I don't have Cindy have
any brothers or sisters ?

Does John
enough work
have
a
girlfriend?
Why do
you have two ?
This house
doesn't have bicycles
a
garden week?
☐° next
YOU and Alan have an evening free
 Has she got a brother ?

She hasn't
got a car

she has
got three dogs
hasn't of
she got a lot
money
Has she hair ?
got long
She hasn't got any sisters
Has she got a nice flat ?
She has got a
good job
she has got orolole.ms with her
family
she hasn't
got much free time

we're all here

they 're tired

I'm ready
My name 's Mike
you're
very kind
Nina 's
got a headache
I don't have a car

they're not
ready
I'm not well
you aren't very polite
what's name
your
what's the dog god in its mouth ?
where's the station ?
didn't school
I have a
good time at
the house doen 't have central heating

E¥E¥;
=
 mush t
'

don't have to / needn't

mush t
'

mush 't

don't have to / needn't

 about
to
your parents
.

speak
. .

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doesn't have to attend tomorrow's

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needn't have called me today

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you mustn't use mobile phones inside the hospital He

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needn't have made reservations

they .

you mustn't
pick these flowers

Paula didn't need to make the beds

you must
obey the law

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Ronald must be at home

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a game

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you can take the car tonight if you want

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You could gift her a box of chocolates

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may/might/could leave tomorrow

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may/might/could have been trying to call you

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 Reading Comprehension 2

The vegetarian diet is becoming increasingly popular all the time. Is the
vegetarian or meat diet better? A decade ago and earlier, the impression was
that a vegetarian diet was lacking in the nutrients found in meat products.
Today though, through research and nutritional science, it has been proven
that all the nutrients found in meat may at the same time be found in the
correct vegetarian diet. Some may argue that by only consuming meat that is
low in fat, meat and vegetarian diets have identical benefits. This is true only if
one eats only very low fat meat. The lack of meat is not necessarily the main
benefit of the vegetarian. Vegetarians tend to eat more fruits, vegetables and
grains than the meat eater. They also tend not to use tobacco and excessive
alcohol. Moreover, vegetarians tend to get more exercise.

1) It is clear from the passage that meat and vegetarian diets have similar
benefits .......

a. if the term vegetarian cannot be misleading

b. only if very low fat meat is eaten
c. as long as diet can take on many different varia
d. if a vegetarian consumes the same dairy products
e. because the term vegetarian is used to cover all facets and variati

2) It has been alleged that vegetarians do not only benefit from not eating
meat in fact, ........

a. but other factors probably include exercise and resistance to smoking

and alcohol intake
b. but the partial vegetarian eats anything except red meat
c. this is most likely due to the low fat and high carbohydrate content of
their diet as well
d. they usually have lower blood pressure than meat eaters as well
e. they also benefit from not using tobacco and excessive alcohol while
getting more exercise

1
3) In the past it was claimed that the nutrients found in meat products weren't
found in a vegetarian diet.......

a. but it is proved to be wrong through research today

b. the last major benefit of the vegetarian diet is its relationship to cancer
rate reduction
c. however the vegetarian diets advantages greatly outweigh its
shortcomings
d. whether a meat eater or vegetarian, both diets may contribute to good
health with proper planning
e. there are advantages and drawbacks to both diets

A social anxiety disorder or social phobia is the constant fear of being

criticized or evaluated by other people. People with a social phobia are
nervous, anxious, and afraid about many social situations. Simply attending a
business meeting or going to a company party can be highly nerve wracking
and intimidating. Despite the fact that people with social anxiety want very
much to be social with everybody else, their anxiety about not doing well in
public is strong and hinders their best efforts. They freeze up when they meet
new people, particularly authority figures. They are particularly afraid that
other people will notice that they are anxious, so this fear enables the anxiety
to grow and turn into a vicious cycle.

4) Even though people with social anxiety very much want to be social with
everybody else ..........

a. who is conscious of the fact that people might be staring at them

b. everyone is scared of something
c. everyone experiences nervousness, anxiety and even in superior
feelings around certain people
d. they cannot overcome a social phobia without the patient first grasping
exactly what triggers their fears
e. they cannot achieve it because of lack of self confidence

2
5) For someone with a social phobia, attending a business meeting or going to
a company party may be highly nerve wracking and intimidating ......

a. as some people possess these feelings so deeply that their fear is

considered irrational
b. Even they realize that it is illogical and that they have a phobia
c. because of being the center of attraction
d. since a social phobia is the fear of social situations and the interactions
with other people
e. for millions of people suffer from phobias every day of their lives.

6) People with a social phobia are nervous, anxious, and afraid about many
social situations

a. and then learning how to get proper help

b. since many symptoms go hand in hand with this terrible phobia
c. because they are sure they are making a fool of themselves
d. since they are afraid of being criticized or evaluated by other people
e. for self-consciousness and anxiety rise to extre

Although just a few years ago, most people regarded talk shows as ridiculous,
now this chant is recognized and adored by many people in society. The most
careful explanation for this is that the shows now have more interesting and
captivating topics. The basis of most episodes of these shows has changed
greatly over the past few years; The topics have moved away from large scale
social issues, like homosexuality and cancer, to relationship and familial
issues, like adultery and mothers that are too teasing with their daughter's
boyfriends. Most people would argue that the issues being presented now are
not as interesting or captivating as the older issues.

3
7) In spite of the fact that many people in society find today's talk show issues
interesting ......

a. the general emotional content of the episodes has changed from

sadness to anger
b. there are many people who find the older issues much more interesting
and charming
c. there are many influences that cause extreme anger to be displayed by
the guests on "talk shows"
d. the anxiety which you experienced is gone and replaced by anger,
intense anger
e. not knowing what to expect, when you are nervous and anxious

8) Talk shows that were considered to be ridiculous beforehand ...........

a. are taken into consideration today

b. the emotions displayed by the guests in the newer shows are more
visible
c. usually framed some questions in a certain way
d. but there are many psychological explanations for the increasing anger
experienced by the guests on a talk show
e. they frequently use this framing effect to try to get the response which is
more favorable for the interviewer or surveyor

9) The most significant reason which talk shows are recognized and adored
by many people in society is that......

a. nothing seems awkward in these shows

b. questions can be phrased in different ways eliciting different responses
c. there is a strong correlation between the anger of his guests and the
ratings
d. talk shows have interesting and charming topics
e. the question is framed in such a way that any answer given to it would
evoke or intensify anger

4
The belief that one's own nation is superior or at least the strongest helped to
create a feeling of patriotism and pride among the lower classes. I believe that
the spread of nationalism throughout European society was a positive
development. Nationalism helped to unite people with a common history and
culture. It instilled pride and confidence among nations and gave people a
sense of being. Contrary to the other ideologies of the time, nationalism
proposed self- sacrifice for the good of others. However, I believe that at the
beginning of the 20th century the idea of Social Darwinism corrupted it and
permitted nationalism to be twisted by those who would exploit it.

10) In the beginning of the 20th century, when the idea of Social Darwinism
came into scene

a. but, overall it had a positive effect on European society.

b. nationalism declined
c. it offered something to believe in when there wasn't much to believe in
d. there seems to be quite a bit more substantial proof on earth to support
the theory of evolution
e. because of the fact actual samples of fossils have been collected and
scientifically tested

11) It can be concluded from the paragraph that..........

a. the time periods show differences in bone structure showing the human
evolving
b. the more a creature can adapt to it's environment the greater chance it
has of living
c. there was no self-sacrifice for the good of others in other ideologies
d. Charles Darwin had conducted extensive research into the
environmental adoptions of animals
e. this theory helps to prove the theory that humans evolved from apes

5
12) It is obvious from the passage that nationalism helped to unite people with
a common history and culture .......

a. the evidence of holding up much more

b. which can then be examined and placed along a timeline.
c. which is called environmental adaptation
d. to show an increase in population called survival of the fittest
e. gave people a sense of being

In today's materialistic driven society, people are judged in every probable

aspect. From their appearance, background, social status, way of thinking to
their friends, families. The necessity to be accepted and admired by others
captivates the minds of many men and women of today. This conquest for
social acceptance becomes so real that the idea then becomes an obsession.
The way we look plays a big role in our lives. It determines the way others see
us and from that, it will then determine how we feel about ourselves. One main
supporter of appearance is our weight.

13) The way that we look plays such a big role in our lives that......

a. it determines the way others see us

b. they can look good for other people
c. they don't even admire them for their inner being
d. we ourselves abuse our health and bodies
e. there have been ways and tactics created by man

14) It has been claimed by the author that ......

a. but this applies to men as well

b. men and women are obsessed with their weights
c. your body needs to maintain itself
d. the struggle for social acceptance becomes a passion for people
e. what makes a person beautiful is the person as a whole

6
15) According to the paragraph the way which we look determines ......

a. exercising and eating right is a better healthier way to do

b. to see you are beautiful people
c. their mind, personality, attitude...being in his or herself
d. an empty-headed person who would harm themselves
e. how we feel about ourselves

The nineteenth century was a period of great change and accompanying

social unrest in the British Isles.Most outstanding among the changes was the
industrial revolution. As everything in life, it brought good, but it brought evil as
well. The industrial revolution combined with the expansion of the British
Empire made the United Kingdom, the richest and most powerful country in
the world. Some of the islanders became unbelievably wealthy, but others,
unfortunately, became unbelievably poor. Authors from this historical period,
aware of human suffering, became social critics of what was taking place in
England, of how the rich and powerful became more oppressive than before
and how the very poor were evenly more oppressed. Among these authors
were Charles Dickens and George Eliot.

16) Even though the British Empire became the richest and most powerful
country in the world

a. it describes the conflict and battle between these two groups

b. the gap between the rich and the poor increased after the industrial
revolution
c. the factory workers and miners lacked basic human rights and their idea
and beliefs were discarded
d. political candidates gave false hopes and promises so as to sway the
opinion of people
e. a change for the good of the workers was provided

7
17) The most significant change of the nineteenth century was the industrial
revolution ..........

a. claiming that their support of the radical movement would improve their
lives
b. which would be used to rebuild estate and support political actions
c. being a radical, improvement, alter and modernization
d. which had modern opinions and ideas to alter the outcome of society
e. which brought both good and evil in life

18) It is easy to comprehend from the paragraph that the improvement of

industry in the British Isles………

a. wanted change and reform

b. caused social unrest as well
c. which forced society to choose what side would represent them
d. caused conflict in which people would only associate with individuals
e. despite the vast obstacle there was

Witnesses report many, many different shapes and sizes of UFO's, even
shape changing ones. The famous "Two bowls joined at the rim" shape is
reported frequently, but reports of objects shaped like cigars, squares, balls,
triangles, rings, and GUITARS are also common. Many of these reports are of
objects from far away, but reports of close encounters also exist. Some of the
most interesting sightings are reported on or near the ground. Often the
person claims that the ship left a mark or something on the ground, this is
called a "Trace Case".

19) In accordance with the paragraph,.....

a. these reports, however, have to be separated from other

b. a study of these reports are random and show no pattern
c. these reports have come from people living in rural areas
d. claims of witnessing a UFO have come from considerate, reliable
people
e. most of the unknown flying objects are reported to have been on or near
the ground

8
20) According to the paragraph, even though most of the reported UFO's quite
imaginative .......

a. there were real definitions as well

b. they claim they have been a part of the Alien Brotherhood
c. the U.S. Air Force attempted to study UFO's
d. the UFOs did not represent a threat to the United States
e. they never considered any of this to be a unique phenomenon

21) Although there were many reports about different shapes and sizes of
UFO's .......

a. men learned a great amount of things from doing this project

b. there are many people out there studying these sightings, and reports
c. the most widespread was "Two bowls joined at the rim"
d. all of the UFO stuff is just abnormal weather co
e. are just waiting to be found out.

In the 1600's, when tobacco was founded by John Rolfe, tobacco suddenly
became the major source of income for most of the colonists. The economic
prosperity of the colonies was primarily dependent on the amount of tobacco
produced. The growing of tobacco required a large amount of land, with a
large stable workforce. The increased demand for a large, stable work force
combined with the availability of African slaves, led to the use of slavery in the
colonies.

22) It can be concluded that the economic prosperity of the colonies was
primarily dependent on the amount of tobacco produced .......

a. and then the availability of African slaves as a work force

b. but planters of tobacco had an abundance of land and a shortage of
labor
c. however the servants were running away from their masters' farms
d. which was a major factor in the consideration of slaves on plantation
e. because tobacco was a plant that exhausts nutrients from the soil

9
23) The growing of tobacco in the colonies ..........

a. would be easier for slaves owing to the colour of their skin

b. was the ideal form of labor that would be most beneficial to productivity
of any crop
c. required both a large amount of land and a large stable work
d. had a tradition of farming, and main agricultural skills.
e. needed to be educated on certain agricultural techniques

24) It can be inferred from the paragraph that..........

a. modern farming methods led to the rotation of crops

b. planters had to know how to make the land most productive
c. the slaves would only require to be educated once
d. the African slaves also had other characteristics
e. slavery started when tobacco was founded by John Rolfe in the
sixteenth century

10