Different words do different jobs in a sentence.

Theword class

book

Sue Palmer

Different words do different jobs in a sentence.

noun adjectivepronoun

verb

preposition

These are calledword classes.

adverb

conjunctiondeterminer

e.g.girl

dog

schoolgirl, teenager, toddler…

terrier, poodle, puppy…

a noun isthe name of

a person,place, animal

or thing

Nouns 1

girl

city

dog

day

Emma

Belfast

Fido

Monday

girl

city

fox

man

girls

cities

foxes

men

commonnoun

generalnames

propernoun

particularnames

singular

just one

plural

morethan one

Index Noun 2

Nouns 2

Nounscan be…

Noun phrases can provide detail and clarity.

collectivenouns

abstractnouns

group team

crowdflock

herdclass

singular nounfor a plural group

justicehappinessgriefwisdom

idea

things you can’tsee, hear, touch, smell

A group of words builtround a noun is called a noun phrase..

It acts like a nounin a sentence.

Index

The small boy with grubbyknees was laughing. We had an interesting discussion about life.

e.g. talllanky, towering,statuesque…

Adjectives

Adjectivestell you

more abouta noun.

They can comebefore the noun…

e.g. The huge fluffy monster

or after it…

e.g. The monster was huge and fluffy.

They can be…comparative or superlative.

tallermore enormous

tallestmost enormous

rather talltallish

quite tallextremely tall

They can suggest degree…

Index

PronounsSingular Plural

Firstperson

Apronounstands inplace of a noun

I

me

my

mine

myself

you

you

your

yours

yourself

he/she/it

him/her/it

his/hers/its

his/hers/its

himself/herself/itself

Secondperson

Thirdperson

Pronouns must be consistente.g. don’t switch between

3rd and 1st person.

Firstperson

Secondperson

Thirdperson

Any word that stands in for a noun(or noun phrase) is a pronoun, e.g.

this, that, those, one

we

us

our

ours

ourselves

you

you

your

yours

yourselves

they

them

their

theirs

themselves

Index

Third personsingular has gender:

masculine feminine

neuter

Verb 2

e.g. eat gobble, nibble, devour…

Verb 1The verb is

the word that tellsyou what’s

happening in a sentence

pasttense

future

present tense

e.g. ate

was eating

has eaten

used to eat

had eaten

e.g. will eat

is going to eat

e.g. eats is eating

Where more than oneword is needed it’s called a verb chain.

Index

Verb 2Verbs can

be…

imperative

negative

interrogative

conditional

active or passive

e.g. Stop! Mix the flour…

e.g. is not… cannot… don’t…

e.g. What is she doing? May I have a drink?

e.g. may be… might have… could be…

See also The ComplexSentence Book.

The monster ate the pie. The pie

was eaten by the

monster.

Index

Adverbshow? where?

when?

e.g. gently

sadly

happily

e.g.now then

afterwards

yesterday

e.g. inside

outside

here

there

everywhere

Vary the position of adverbs to achieve the best rhythm and emphasis for your sentence.

comparative superlative

degree

morehappily

mosthappily

quite happilyextremely happily

Adverbs can move aboutThe sentence.

(See The Sentence Book)

Adverbs fill inbackgrounddetail about

what happens.

Index

PrepositionsPrepositionscome at thebeginning of

a phrase.

inup

with

roundover

on

after

through

under

in the garden

with big teeth

over the rainbow

on his bestbehaviour

after lunch

under the arches

The phrasessometimes act like adjectives… and sometimes like adverbs.

The dog in the gardenwas barking.

telling us more

about the dog The dog was barking in the garden.

Vary the position of adverbialphrases to change the rhythm and emphasis of the sentence.

up the stairs

round the corner

through the years

adjectives adverbs

where was it barking?

Index

ConjunctionsConjunctionsmake linksbetweenclauses.

time links

when whilewhenever

before until

after

conditionallinks

although

if unless

as long as

and

causal links

place links

or

but

so

as sincebecause

in order that

so that

wherewherever

When the cat sleeps, the mice come out to play.

The cat sleeps until the mice come out to play.

The mice come out to play because the cat sleeps.

e.g.

The ringed conjunctions are coordinating conjunctions (compound sentences).The others are subordinating conjunctions (complex sentences). See Complex Sentence Book.

Index

Determiners

Determinershome you inon a noun.

*Like your, his, her, its, our, their, the word my is half-way between apronoun and a determiner. Best to call it a pronoun in the early stages.

the monster

any monster

*my monster some monsters

all monsters

a monster

Index

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