Grammar
Parts of speech and sentences
Questioning is the basis of all learning.
Introduction
This page includes notes on parts of speech and parts of sentences with examples and suggestions on learning, remembering, and teaching about them and grammar.
Grammar includes parts of speech and parts of sentences. and much more which you can add to this page to make yours more complete!
Parts of speech
- Noun - is the word a person, place, thing or idea?
- Verb - is the word an action? Requires memorization of a list of 23 helping/ state of being words.
- Adverb
- Adjective is a word that describes.
- Pronoun - Requires memorization of a list of words
- Conjunction - Requires memorization of a list of words
- Preposition - Requires memorization of a list of words
- Interjection - Requires memorization of a list of words
Use anchor sentences to help remember and analyze other sentences.
- The dog ran fast.
- The dog is brown.
What part of speech is dog?
Dog - is it a person, place, thing, or idea?
Thing!
Therefore, it is a noun!
What part of speech is ran?
Ran - Can you run?
Yes. Therefore, a verb.
What part of speech is is?
Is - can you is? No. Is it on the list of 23?
Yes. It is a being verb.
What part of speech is brown?
Brown - is it on a list?
No. Is it a noun …? No.
Is it a verb? No.
Can it be used to describe and identify the dog?
Yes. It is an adjective.
Parts of a sentence
What are the parts of a sentence?
What parts of speech can be used for each part of a sentence?
Here is an answer to both of these questions:
- Subject - noun, pronoun
- Predicate - verb
- Direct object - noun, pronoun; usually after a verb
- Indirect object - noun, pronoun; requires a direct object (The catcher tossed me the ball.)
- Predicate nominative - after a state of being word there might be a predicate nominative, which must be a noun or pronoun. The dog is a hound.
- Predicate adjective- after a state of being word there might be a predicate nominative, which must be an adjective. The dog is black.
All sentences must have a subject (noun, pronoun) and predicate (verb)
Pronouns singular and plural
Subject & personal pronouns |
Possessive no apostrophes |
Objects |
|
1 st person singular pronoun |
I |
my, mine |
me |
2 nd person singular pronoun |
you |
your, yours |
You |
3 rd person singular pronoun |
he, she, it |
her, his, hers, it |
him, her, it |
Subject & personal pronouns |
Possessive no apostrophes |
Object |
|
1st person plural pronoun |
we |
our, ours |
us |
2nd person plural pronoun |
you |
your, yours |
you |
3rd person
plural pronoun |
they |
their, theirs |
them |
Subject pronoun |
He went home. Jane and I went home. |
Object pronoun |
Jane went with John and him Jane saw him and me |
Pronoun is often after is, are, was, & were |
The best are George and I. That is he. (she,we,they) |
Groupings of more pronouns
- Personal Pronouns:
- Are pronouns used to refer to people and animals.
- Examples - I, you, he, she, it, we, and they
- Possessive Pronouns
- Are pronouns that show possession, or ownership of something.
- Examples - my, your, his, her, its, our, and their
- Demonstrative Pronouns
- These pronouns help point to specific things.
- Examples - this, that, these, and those
- Interrogative Pronouns
- These pronouns help ask questions.
- Examples - who, whom, which, what, and whose
- Relative Pronouns
- These pronouns help introduce dependent clauses.
- Examples - who, whom, which, that, and whose
- Indefinite Pronouns:
- These pronouns help refer to unspecified people or things.
- Examples- all, any, each, every, no one, none, some, anybody, anyone, and anything
- Reciprocal Pronouns
- These pronouns are used to refer to a mutual relationship between two or more people.
- Examples - each other and one another
- Intensive Pronouns
- These pronouns help emphasize a noun or pronoun.
- Examples - myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, and themselves
- Reflexive Pronouns
- These pronouns are used to refer back to the subject of the sentence.
- Examples - myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, and themselves
- Singular Personal Pronouns
- Examples - I, you, he, she, and it
- Plural Personal Pronouns:
- Examples - we and they
- Gender-Neutral Personal Pronouns
- Examples - they, them, their, theirs, and themselves
Verbs
Verb - is the word an action? Requires memorization of a list of 23 helping / state of being words.
Here are the twenty-three!
- am, is, are, was and
- were, being, been, be
- and have, has, had, do, does, did, shall, will, should, and would
- and a final five hellping verbs - may, might, must, can, and could
WOW!
To be verbs
Eight to be verbs and their functions.
- be - bare infinitive
- am, is, are - present tense
- was, were - past tense
- been - past participle
- being - present participle, gerund
| Singular | Plural | |
| First person | (I) am | (we) are |
| Second person | (you) are | (you) are |
| Third person | (he/she/it) is | (they) are |
| Singular | Plural | |
| First person | (I) was | (we) were |
| Second person | (you) were | (you) were |
| Third person | (he/she/it) was | (they) were |
Notes about to be verbs
- The simple present and simple past tenses of to be are also used as auxiliary verbs to create the present continuous and past continuous tenses, which show an ongoing or continuous action.
- As with other tenses, in the continuous tenses, to be verbs are still conjugated to match the subject.
- The main verb of the sentence comes after to be and is always in its present participle form (the –ing form), regardless of the subject.
- [conjugated to be] + [present participle]
- The present continuous tense uses the simple present tense of to be verbs (am, are, and is):
We are walking home right now.- The past continuous uses the simple past (was and were):
We were walking for hours yesterday.