The Nine Parts of Speech

1 Three little words you often see

Are articles a, an and the.

2 A noun’s the name of any thing

As school, or garden, hoop or swing.

3 Adjectives tell the kind of noun

As great, small, pretty, white or brown.

4 Instead of nouns the pronouns stand

—John play’d with Jane; he hurt her
hand.

5 Verbs tell of something to be done—

To read, count, sing, laugh, jump or run.
’
6 How things are done, the adverbs tell,
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As slowly, quickly, ill or well.

7 Conjunctions* join the words together,

As men and women, wind or weather.

8 The preposition stands before a noun,

As on or through the door.

9 The interjection shows surprise,

As Oh! How pretty—ah! How wise.
The whole are called nine parts of speech,
Which proper speaking, writing, teach.

Burton Stevenson (ed.), The home book of verse, vol. 1.

*We now call conjunctions connectives.

v
Zeegers, Margaret. Grammar Matters, Oxford University Press, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ecu/detail.action?docID=4389153.
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Copyright © 2013. Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

Zeegers, Margaret. Grammar Matters, Oxford University Press, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ecu/detail.action?docID=4389153.
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 Contents

Expanded Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
About the Author

PART 1: PARTS OF SPEECH AND RULES OF GRAMMAR

Chapter 1: The Noun

Chapter 2: The Pronoun

Chapter 3: The Apostrophe: Not a Part of Speech

Chapter 4: The Preposition

’ ix
xiii
xv
xvi

12

24

32

Chapter 5: The Adjective 42

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Chapter 6: The Article 52

Chapter 7: The Connective 58

Chapter 8: The Interjection 66

Chapter 9: The Verb 70

Chapter 10: The Adverb 94

End of Part 1 Revision 102

vii
Zeegers, Margaret. Grammar Matters, Oxford University Press, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ecu/detail.action?docID=4389153.
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 viii Contents

PART 2: PHRASES, CLAUSES, SENTENCES

AND THEIR PUNCTUATION 109

Chapter 11: Phrases, Clauses and Sentences 110

Chapter 12: Types of Phrases and Clauses 124

Chapter 13: Punctuation 138

Answers to End of Chapter Revision Questions 152

Answers to End of Part 1 Revision Tests 166
References and Further Reading 173
Index 178
Copyright © 2013. Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

Zeegers, Margaret. Grammar Matters, Oxford University Press, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ecu/detail.action?docID=4389153.
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 Expanded Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
About the Author

PART 1: PARTS OF SPEECH AND RULES OF GRAMMAR

Chapter 1: The Noun

The noun
Concrete and abstract nouns
Common and proper nouns
Plural nouns
Chapter 2: The Pronoun
’ xiii
xv
xvi

12
3
4
6
7

The pronoun 13
Person 15
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Number 16
Subject and object in pronouns 16
Possessive pronouns 19
Chapter 3: The Apostrophe: Not a Part of Speech 24
The apostrophe 25
Two uses of the apostrophe 25
Chapter 4: The Preposition 32
The preposition 33
A convention 34
Rules and the preposition 35
Correct prepositions within certain phrasings 36

ix
Zeegers, Margaret. Grammar Matters, Oxford University Press, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ecu/detail.action?docID=4389153.
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 x Expanded Contents

Chapter 5: The Adjective 42

The adjective 43
Adjectives describing nouns 44
Comparison of adjectives 47
Adjectives describing pronouns 48
Chapter 6: The Article 52
The article 53
The definite article 53
The indefinite article 54
The rules 54
Definite article 55
Indefinite article 55
Chapter 7: The Connective 58
The connective 59
Enhancing meaning 60
Correct use of connectives 62
Awkwardly used connectives 64
Chapter 8: The Interjection 66
The interjection 67
Chapter 9: The Verb 70
The verb 71
Action verbs 72
Non-action verbs 72
Tense 75
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Irregular verbs 76
More than simple tenses 77
Using more than one word for the verb 78
Auxiliary (helper) verbs 79
Recognising multiple word verbs in questions 80
Recognising multiple word verbs with descriptors between them 80
Recognising verbs in contractions 81
Participles 81
The infinitive 82
Split infinitive 84
Dangling participles 85
Concord (agreement) 87

Zeegers, Margaret. Grammar Matters, Oxford University Press, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ecu/detail.action?docID=4389153.
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 Expanded Contents xi

Chapter 10: The Adverb 94

The adverb 95
Adding meaning to a verb 95
Adding meaning to another adverb 96
Adding meaning to an adjective 97
Comparison of adverbs 98
End of Part 1 Revision 102
Test 1 102
Test 2 107

PART 2: PHRASES, CLAUSES, SENTENCES

AND THEIR PUNCTUATION 109

Chapter 11: Phrases, Clauses and Sentences 110

Grammatical sentences 111
The phrase 112
The clause 112
Sentences 114
Simple sentence 115
Complex sentence 115
Grammatical sentence characteristics 120
Chapter 12: Types of Phrases and Clauses 124
Simple and complex sentences 125
The noun phrase 125
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The noun clause 127

The prepositional phrase 129
The adjectival phrase 130
The adjectival clause 131
The verb phrase 132
The verb clause 133
The adverbial phrase 134
The adverbial clause 135
Chapter 13: Punctuation 138
Punctuation 139
Two main functions 139

Zeegers, Margaret. Grammar Matters, Oxford University Press, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ecu/detail.action?docID=4389153.
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 xii Expanded Contents

Main punctuation conventions 140

Pairs of punctuation marks 143
Direct and indirect speech 146
Conventions 146
A third function of punctuation 148

Answers to End of Chapter Revision Questions 152

Answers to End of Part 1 Revision Tests 166
References and Further Reading 173
Index 178
Copyright © 2013. Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

Zeegers, Margaret. Grammar Matters, Oxford University Press, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ecu/detail.action?docID=4389153.
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 Preface

The purpose of this book

This book approaches grammar as a set of simple rules that govern written and spoken
communication. It is as simple as the little ditty shown on page v, chanted by children in
the nineteenth century, and perhaps earlier. The book stresses that grammar is simple,
drawing on knowledge that the reader already has, and has had since before even starting
school. It approaches grammar as basic rules that are simple and able to be taught and
learned as such. Once these are established as part of reader knowledge, the book turns
to the application of grammar knowledge to the correct use of punctuation. Developing
this knowledge means developing the language in which it is embedded, so that the
reader may confidently employ the metalanguage used when features of language use
are discussed.
’
Copyright © 2013. Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

Traditional and functional grammar

Each chapter starts with what might be termed ‘traditional grammar’, in that it gives
definitions, rules and some activities to illustrate these. Each chapter goes on to a
comment on functional grammar. The simplest way to think of functional grammar is in
relation to ways in which grammatical items—nouns, verbs, prepositions, adjectives and
so on—work to structure sentences, and create meaning in and from them. Once readers
know what a noun is, for example, they can work with the idea of how it functions in
texts. This applies to all the parts of speech dealt with in this book.

xiii
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 xiv Preface

Level

The book is aimed at adult readers, especially those who teach or are learning to
teach English in schools. Once these readers have mastered this material, they may
be considered as qualified for membership of the Grammar Police, that anonymous
body of people who themselves have the knowledge contained in this book, and who
silently judge those who demonstrably do not. They will be able to use the concept of
the Grammar Police in teaching grammar as their own students, in the best traditions of
that Grammar Police, find themselves enthusiastically identifying incorrect grammar all
around them and reporting this in class.

Organisation

The book takes a lock-step approach. The reader is encouraged to lock in the knowledge
of a particular aspect of grammar or punctuation before engaging the next aspect. Each
step is based on the previous one being locked in by the reader. The starting point is
nouns, and subsequent chapters build on knowledge of nouns until all nine parts of
speech are covered. The book then considers phrases, and uses the knowledge about
these to build knowledge of clauses and sentences, and then the punctuation of these.

How to use this book

The book is designed to build grammar knowledge step by step. Readers are advised to
Copyright © 2013. Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

focus on one chapter at a time, in the order in which they are given here. This will ensure
that the knowledge is built up in a logical sequence.

An important piece of advice

There is a revision section to round off each chapter, except for Chapter 8, The Interjection,
which the reader, when they come to it, will see does not need a revision section. Readers
are advised, after working through each chapter, to complete the exercises in its revision
section on the basis of what they know about grammar. I urge the reader to pass on
questions they do not know how to answer, and go back over the chapter to get the
correct answer based on knowledge and not guesswork. The point is for readers to
develop knowledge of grammar in order to apply it with confidence and ease in their
own work, and teach it to children in class with the same confidence and ease.
Zeegers, Margaret. Grammar Matters, Oxford University Press, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ecu/detail.action?docID=4389153.
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