1. Parts of Speech: Definitions
Please take notes!

2. How Language Actually Works
The basic word order of English sentences is:
SUBJECT + VERB + OBJECT (also known as SVO)
The woman [S] built [V] a wall [O].
Will [S] would talk [V] to a wall [O].
Chris [S] sleeps [V] at his desk[O].
Tiffany [S] reads [V] books [O].

3. Nouns A noun is: A person (student, football player, Ms. McGlynn)
A place (school, Virginia, home)
A thing (dog, pencil, desk)
Or an idea (dream, loyalty, imagination)

4. Capitalization Always capitalize names
People’s names (Justin Timberlake)
Names of political, racial, social, national and athletic groups (Republicans, Native Americans, the Redskins)
Place names (Paris, France)
Date and event names (September 17th, 2013)
Historic Events (World War II)
Titles of Works (“Applause” by Lady Gaga)

5. Possessives
Possessive demonstrate ownership of things (also known as nouns) using apostrophes (‘this thing)
To create a possessive or a object, simply add an “ –’s” to the word
Siraacs late pass Siraac’s late pass
Jennys phone Jenny’s phone
If the word is plural and already ends in s, just add an apostrophe
The boys facial hair boys’ facial hair
Will and Brandon both have facial hair, so “boys” is plural

6. Noun Markers
There are three noun markers. These words are also sometimes called “determiners” or “articles.”
Noun Markers indicate that a noun is being quantified (counted).
The three noun markers are: a an
the

7. himself, herself, themselves
Pronouns
Pronouns replace a noun. The most common type of pronouns are personal pronouns.
Singular
Sing. Possessive
Plural
Plural Possessive
Reflexive
1st Person
I, me
my, mine
us, we
our, ours
myself, ourselves
2nd Person
you
your, yours
yourself, yourselves
3rd Person
he, him, she, her, it
his, hers, its
they, them
their, theirs
himself, herself, themselves

8. Combining Sentences
One of the easiest ways to improve your writing is to combine multiple short sentences that use pronouns as their subject.
The students [S] waited.
They [S] waited for the lunch period to come.
They [S] were anxious.
The students [S] anxiously waited for the lunch period to come.

9. Adjectives Adjectives modify nouns, pronouns, or adjectives:
(In grammar, “modify” means “describe;” therefore, an adjective describes a noun)
Adjectives modify nouns by explaining:
What kind? (a fast car)
How much? (lots of time)
How many? (seven dwarves)
Which one? (the black cat)

10. Verbs Verbs show actions or state of being Action verbs:
run, shop, read
Linking Verbs (and Helping Verbs)
is, are, was, were, am, be, been, do, did, does, shall, should, may, might, must, have, has, had, can, could, will, would!
ie: He is jogging. She must read directions.

11. Adverbs Adverbs modify verbs.
An adjective is to a noun as an adverb is to a verb! (adjective : noun :: adverb : verb)
An adverb tells you how a verb is performed
HINT: Most common adverbs end in “-ly”
He eats quickly. They read slowly. You did well on your test.

12. Prepositions The toughest one to define!
A preposition links nouns, pronouns, and phrases to other words in the sentence.
…WHA???
Prepositions tell you where or how a noun interacts with an object, for example
The dog jumped over the fence. She hid behind her mother.

13. The Preposition Trick The squirrel ran ________ the tree.
Any word that fits in the blank is a preposition.
in, over, under, around, after, before, behind, from, by, through, against, etc
The squirrel ran FROM the tree.

14. Conjunctions Conjunctions link words and phrases together
Coordinating conjunctions (FANBOYS)
for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so
These connect independent phrases or lists.
Subordinating conjunctions
after, although, because, since, while, however, etc
These connect an independent phrase with a dependent phrase

15. Interjections!
Interjections are words added to a sentence to convey emotion.
Yay! Hey! Oh! GOLLY GEE WIZ!
They also include “filler words” or “unintelligibles.”
um, uh, like