Different words do different jobs in a sentence. The word class book Sue Palmer

Different words do different jobs in a sentence. noun pronoun adjective verb preposition adverb determiner conjunction These are called word classes.

Nouns 1 a noun is the name of a person, place, animal or thing common general names proper noun particular names plural more than one singular just one a noun is the name of a person, place, animal or thing girl Emma girl girls city Belfast city cities dog Fido fox foxes day Monday man men e.g. girl dog schoolgirl, teenager, toddler… terrier, poodle, puppy… Choose precise nouns for interest and clarity. Index Noun 2

provide detail and clarity. singular noun for a plural group Nouns 2 things you can’t see, hear, touch, smell collective nouns abstract nouns Nouns can be… group team crowd flock herd class justice happiness grief wisdom idea A group of words built round a noun is called a noun phrase. The small boy with grubby knees was laughing. We had an interesting discussion about life. It acts like a noun in a sentence. Noun phrases can provide detail and clarity. Index

Choose powerful adjectives for clarity and effect. They can come before the noun… or after it… Adjectives tell you more about a noun. e.g. The huge fluffy monster e.g. The monster was huge and fluffy. They can be… comparative or superlative. They can suggest degree… rather tall tallish quite tall extremely tall taller more enormous tallest most enormous e.g. tall lanky, towering, statuesque… Choose powerful adjectives for clarity and effect. Index

Pronouns Singular Plural A pronoun stands in place of a noun First person Second person Third person First person Second person Third person I me my mine myself you your yours yourself he/she/it him/her/it his/hers/its himself/herself /itself we us our ours ourselves you your yours yourselves they them their theirs themselves Third person singular has gender: masculine feminine neuter Any word that stands in for a noun (or noun phrase) is a pronoun, e.g. this, that, those, one Pronouns must be consistent e.g. don’t switch between 3rd and 1st person. Index

Verb 1 past future tense present tense The verb is the word that tells you what’s happening in a sentence e.g. ate was eating has eaten used to eat had eaten e.g. will eat is going to eat present tense Where more than one word is needed it’s called a verb chain. e.g. eats is eating Choose powerful verbs for clarity and effect. e.g. eat gobble, nibble, devour… Index Verb 2

The pie was eaten by the monster. Verb 2 imperative conditional Verbs can be… e.g. Stop! Mix the flour… e.g. may be… might have… could be… negative active or passive e.g. is not… cannot… don’t… The monster ate the pie. The pie was eaten by the monster. interrogative e.g. What is she doing? May I have a drink? See also The Complex Sentence Book. Index

(See The Sentence Book) Adverbs how? where? Adverbs fill in background detail about what happens. e.g. inside outside here there everywhere e.g. gently sadly happily when? comparative superlative e.g. now then afterwards yesterday more happily most happily Adverbs can move about The sentence. (See The Sentence Book) degree quite happily extremely happily Vary the position of adverbs to achieve the best rhythm and emphasis for your sentence. Index

sometimes act like adjectives… and sometimes like adverbs. Prepositions on his best behaviour in the garden in Prepositions come at the beginning of a phrase. on up the stairs up after lunch after with big teeth with through the years through round the corner round over under under the arches over the rainbow The phrases sometimes act like adjectives… and sometimes like adverbs. adjectives adverbs telling us more about the dog The dog was barking in the garden. where was it barking? The dog in the garden was barking. Vary the position of adverbial phrases to change the rhythm and emphasis of the sentence. Index

Conjunctions time links causal links Conjunctions make links between clauses. when while as since whenever because before until in order that after so that conditional links place links and but or so where although wherever if unless The ringed conjunctions are coordinating conjunctions (compound sentences). The others are subordinating conjunctions (complex sentences). See Complex Sentence Book. as long as Choose the best conjunction to convey the relationship between clauses. 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. Index

Determiners the monster a monster Determiners home you in on a noun. all monsters any monster *my monster some monsters *Like your, his, her, its, our, their, the word my is half-way between a pronoun and a determiner. Best to call it a pronoun in the early stages. Index

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