PARTS OF SPEECH L.Nabulsi

Does grammar make you feel like you do not know where you are headed? ‘ S TRY TO STRAIGHTEN YOU OUT!

NOUNS Tell the what in your sentences. What is this dog singing? PERSONS PLACES THINGS IDEAS COMMON NOUNS – boy, fish PROPER NOUNS – Tom, Nemo CONCRETE NOUNS – Tangible objects - film ABSTRACT NOUNS – Intangible ideas - creation Tells WHAT

Using Nouns to Make Your Writing Stronger Use concrete nouns rather than abstract nouns When first mentioning a person’s name, state the full name; thereafter, use the last name Only mention the city and state when the city is not well known. Repeat a noun mentioned in one paragraph when first mentioned in successive paragraphs. Do not rely on pronouns.

PRONOUN Personal pronouns – Police those antecedents First person – person speaking – I, me, my, mine, we, us, our, ours Second – person spoken to – You, your, yours Third – person spoken about – He, him, his, she, her, hers, it, its,they, them, their , theirs Relative – who, whose, whom (refer to people only); which (refers to things/non-animate only); that (refers to anything).

Pronouns Demonstrative – this, that, these and those Indefinite pronouns – everyone,(singular) everybody, both, one REMEMBER: A PRONOUN REPLACES A NOUN A PRONOUN NEEDS AN ANTECEDENT( A NOUN TO WHICH IT REFERS) A PRONOUN MUST AGREE IN NUMBER AND GENDER WITH THE ANTECEDENT (Laura – she; politicians – they; Thomas – he)

Personal Pronouns Singular Plural Nominative 1st I we 2nd you you 3rd She, he, it they Objective 1st me us 3rd him, her, it them Possessive 1st my, mine our, ours 2nd your, yours your, yours 3rd his, hers, her, its their, theirs

Demonstrative Pronouns Singular Plural Possessive Objective This these (near) That those (far) Interrogatives Pronouns Who, Which, Whose Whom What, Reflexive or Intensive 1st myself ourselves 2nd yourself yourselves 3rd himself, herself, themselves itself Relative Pronouns That, which, Whose whom

Indefinite Pronouns Always singular Both Always plural Another, Anyone, Anybody, Anything, Everyone, Everybody, Everything, Nothing, Each, Either No One, Neither, Nobody, One, Someone, Somebody, Something Both, Few, Many, Several All, Most, None, Some

Using Pronouns to Give Your Writing Punch When using this, that, these, those place a noun after them to clarify the antecedent; for example, this idea, those members of management, these solutions. In other words, use these words as demonstrative adjectives, not pronouns. For clarity, use nouns after most indefinite pronouns: some people, each member Double check indefinite pronouns. They can function as either singular, plural or either. Use a possessive form before a gerund: His coming, not him coming

VERBS Form pictures ACTION – hit, bake, take, LINKING – am, is, are, was, were, be, being,been, look, smell, taste, sound, elected, seems, become SIMPLE TENSES – present, past, future VOICE – ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VERB PHRASE – helping verb plus main verb

Using Verbs to Make Your Writing Stronger Eliminate verbs of being as much as possible. The team is winning this game. The team, winning this game, executes all its plays. Eliminate future tense Ted will have to deal with attendance problems. Ted must deal with attendance problems.

Understand these two concepts to strengthen your writing with verbs 1. Maintain one tense within main clauses, a paragraph and possibly a composition The solutions involve (present) economics. Management increases (present) profits by raising prices and lowering production costs (Maintains present tense). The solutions involve economics. Management increased profits, raised prices, and lowered production costs (Shifts to past tense tense).

2. Use ACTIVE, not PASSIVE voice The subject functions as the ACTOR. Temporary employees are hired by management in the summer. PASSIVE Subject receives the action; Verb now has verb of being No DO-actor in prep. phrase Management hires temporary employees for the summer. ACTIVE The direct object RECEIVES The action

ADJECTIVES MODIFY NOUNS AND PRONOUNS TELL Which one - artistic woman What kind – realistic painting How many – one paint brush Whose – Tom’s art work, his (pronoun functioning as an adjective)easel, her talent, their collection

Using Adjectives to Make your Writing Stronger Add color to your writing by expanding sentences with details, details, details Use the comparative and superlative forms correctly Place adjectives adjacent to the word they modify

ADVERBS MODIFY VERBS, ADJECTIVES AND OTHER ADVERBS TELL When – SING ANYTIME Where – SING HERE, IN CHURCH Why – SING FOR PLEASURE How - SING LOUDLY SOLO To What Extent – SING OFTEN ADVERBS CAN BE SINGLE WORDS, PHRASES OR CLAUSES

Using Adverbs to Make Your Writing Stronger Most students tell the who and the what. To develop their ideas, they need to tell when, where, and especially WHY. In the position paper – why feel this way? In the persuasion – why is the solution a good one In the case study – why is there a problem and why are your ideas solving this problem -LY – Form adverbs by adding –ly to many adjectives Place adverbs adjacent to the words they modify.

PREPOSITIONS LINKS ONE NOUN WITH ANOTHER NOUN AT, IN, FOR, ABOVE, BELOW, AFTER THE FIRST WORD IN A PREPOSTIONAL PHRASE IS THE PREPOSITION PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES FUNCTION AS ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES INCLUDE THE PREPOSITION PLUS A NOUN AND ITS MODIFIERS At school; in the class; for the class members; above your head; below deck; after this class

Using prepositions to strengthen your writing Proper use of prepositions reflects a degree of intelligence and sophistication Prepositional phrases help clarify, modify and expand the nouns or verbs in the sentence Prepositional phrases help vary sentence structure when used to begin a sentence.

CONJUNCTIONS COORDINATE CONJUNCTIONS – AND, BUT, FOR, YET CO-RELATIVE CONJUNCTIONS – EITHER-OR; NEITHER-NOR; BOTH- AND; NOT ONLY- BUT ALSO SUBORDINATE – BECAUSE, SINCE, IF, AFTER (Often prepositions)

How to use conjunctions to strengthen your writing Avoid the use of coordinate conjunctions. Never begin a sentence with a coordinate conjunction even though professional writers might. Your writing is formal, academic writing, so set your computers tools for this task. Use subordinate conjunctions over coordinate conjunctions to subordinate one clause to another. In other words, use complex sentences rather than compound sentences.

INTERJECTIONS WORDS THAT EXPRESS EMOTIONS WOW! OUCH!

How to use interjections to make your writing stronger Don’t - yes, do not use these words in academic writing.

Students, I stress these concepts It sometimes might seem like you are wrestling and struggling with grammar; however, when you look at this PowerPoint, the document about “Twelve Common Errors,”and master these concepts, you realize grammar is just another playful game that challenges you.

Websites http://grammar.uoregon.edu/pronouns/interrogative.html http://www.eht.k12.nj.us/~Huntk/grammar.htm%20htt p://www.englishmedialab.com/grammar.ht ml