PARTS OF SPEECH

PUNCTUATION MARKS

14 Punctuation Marks Everyone Needs to Master

There are 14 punctuation marks in English grammar. Master them all and… well, you’ve
mastered punctuation!

1. The Semi-Colon

The semi-colon is an immensely useful punctuation mark for those who are looking to slam two
slightly related clauses together into a single triumphant sentence.

Semi-colons are most commonly used to merge two independent clauses. For example:

There’s a crocodile in the toilet. He has a lot of hair growing out of his
ears.
At present, the two sentences are separated by a full stop / period. If you were to read them aloud
they would sound like this:

There’s a crocodile in the toilet. *Pause*

He has hair growing out of his ears.
If you were to insert a semi-colon in place of the full stop / period, the pause would be much
shorter and the sentence would look like this:

There’s a crocodile in the toilet; he has a lot of hair growing out of his ears.
The semi-colon serves to eliminate the pause between the two independent clauses and is
therefore used instead of a conjunction, such as and, yet, but, or, nor, for and so.

OR
A semi-colon can also be used as a super-comma, to separate items in a long list. For example:

At the chocolate factory, I scoffed acid balls, they were super sour;
everlasting gob stoppers, I spat mine out after an hour; curly toffees, rather
yummy; and iced fancies, they made me sick.

2. The Comma

Everyone loves the comma. The problem is that quite a lot of people love it TOO MUCH.
Commas are great for inserting pauses into sentences and breaking them up into manageable
chunks. However, quite often, a lot of people, like us, tend to overuse them, placing them
throughout a sentence, at regular intervals, until the text turns into a comma-strewn shadow of
what it could have been. Did we just do that?

There are a large number of complicated rules governing comma usage (oh joy) but luckily for
you we have already covered them in great detail in our super free punctuation guide. There’s
efficiency for you.
3. The Full Stop / Period

The period, or full stop as the British call it, is never going to
set any hearts on fire, but it’s pretty much one of the most important punctuation marks we have.
It tells you when the sentence is complete and you can take a breath. Period usage is second
nature for most people and our brains don’t really even register them most of the time. We do
tend to notice if they’re missing though

4. The Colon

There are plenty of jokes that can be made regarding the name of this punctuation mark but
we’re far too sophisticated for that (you’ve no idea how much restraint that took). The colon is
most commonly used to introduce and can be used to introduce anything: words, phrases, lists,
names or quotations. For example:
 The hungry buffoon only had one thing on his mind: peanut butter cupcakes.
 The hungry buffoon was thinking of lots of things: peanut butter cupcakes, chocolate donuts,
crispy duck and pig’s trotters.
 The buffoon finished his feast in seconds: “I’ll never eat again,” he said.

5. The Quotation Mark

We’ve all “seen” them. They seem to show up “everywhere” these days, more often than not
when they shouldn’t—like in this sentence! To stay on the safe side, quotation marks should
really only be used to show that you’ve stolen the words of someone else.

The use of quotation marks is complicated by the fact that there are two types in use: double
quotation marks and single quotation marks. Confuse the two at your peril.

Double quotation marks are used to directly and exactly quote the words of someone:

“I was absolutely amazed to find a crocodile in the bathroom brushing his teeth,” Mother said.

Single quotation marks are used to quote someone who is quoting someone else:

“I could not believe my ears when the crocodile said, ‘Can I have some privacy here?'” Mother
exclaimed.

Quotation marks are not valid substitutes for italics and should not be used as such. To you and
me, it’s Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, NOT “Romeo and Juliet”.

Incidentally, punctuating your spoken English with air quotes is also just plain wrong.
6. Ellipsis

Thanks to Mariah Carey’s T-shirt we have this one covered.

7. The Exclamation Mark

Once a highly respected serious punctuation mark, the exclamation mark is in serious threat of
becoming nothing more than a glorified emoticon. The exclamation point is used to add an air of
emotion to a sentence:

I can’t believe it! I think I have fallen in love with a hairy-knuckled oaf!
Note the use of just one exclamation mark in the above sentence. Not two, not three, not four…
just one. Despite the modern day mentality of heightening emotion by adding numerous
exclamation marks at the end of a sentence, you really do only need one.

A second potential use of an exclamation mark is to accompany mimetically produced sounds:

Ha! I knew it; you just can’t resist hairy knuckles on a man. Does he comb
them?

8. The Question Mark

The question mark is probably one of the most important punctuation marks because it has an
amazing ability to completely change the meaning of a sentence simply by appearing at its close:

You are so amazingly clever.

The above flattering phrase becomes drenched in an air of sarcasm when you add the all
important question mark:

You are so amazingly clever?

9. Brackets
Parentheses are used to set aside messages that are not really essential to the meaning of the text.
They are always used in pairs and can contain one or more sentences that may include
references, definitions, further information or editorial comments. There are three main rules
governing the use of parentheses:

1) Use parentheses to enclose words that are included as an aside.

There were one hundred (100) gremlins banging at the door demanding ice
cream.
2) To enclose words or figures that clarify the existing sentence.

I refused to answer the door because (1) I am not particularly fond of

gremlins, (2) I had just got out of the shower, and (3) I had no ice cream in
the freezer.
3) The period or full stop should appear inside the parenthesis if it contains a full sentence.

I have enclosed a picture of the damage the gremlins have done to my

property (attachment A).
I have enclosed a picture of the damage the gremlins done to my property.
(Please see attachment A.)
It is grammatically acceptable to use commas instead of parentheses but, because the parenthesis
have the effect of acting as an aside, they are generally used to denote that the information is less
important.
10. The Hyphen

The hyphen is a punctuation mark used to join words and to separate syllables of a single word.
It can be produced by pressing the key that appears on the top right of a computer keyboard and
should never have spaces before or after it. Neither should a hyphen ever be confused with a
dash–we’ll cover that one next.

The most popular use of a hyphen is to join two compound adjectives e.g. hairy-handed.
However, many people claim that you don’t really need to use a hyphen if the use of the two
words together is not ambiguous. We won’t enter in to a debate on the usage of the hyphen here,
we’re quite partial to a compound word or two ourselves.

11. Dashes
There are two types of dashes: the en dash and the em dash.

En Dash (–)

The en dash gets its name from its length as it is one ‘N’ long. The en dash is used to express a
range of values or a distance:

The gremlin was around 50–60 years old, we could tell this from the state
of his teeth.
The Timbuktu–Bolton flight was delayed by 6 hours and we missed the
World Twister Championships.
Em Dash (—)

The em dash also gets its name from its width, which is roughly one ‘M’ long. It is used in a
similar fashion to the parenthesis: to indicate added emphasis, an interruption or an immediate
change of thought. If you are confused as to when to use the em dash versus when you should
use parenthesis, semicolons or colons, you should be—it’s a minefield out there! We suggest that
you use the em dash sparingly and when you wish to express something in an abrupt manner.
The crocodile—who knows what he was doing in the bathroom in the first
place—used all my shower gel.
It took several people to lift the enormous pumpkin—John, Graham, Tim
and Edward.
Make sure you don’t use spaces around the em dash, although some people say it’s acceptable,
we don’t.

12. The Apostrophe

Another punctuation mark that people get wrong all the time—we’re spotting a trend here. It has
so many specific rules governing its usage that we have given it a guide all of its own. If you
don’t know the difference between “its” and “it’s” and just don’t grasp how possessive the
apostrophe can be, then take a look at our free punctuation guide.

13. Braces
No, we’re not referring to the devices dentists torture your teeth with, we’re talking about the
punctuation marks that are used to put parenthesis within parenthesis:

She is going to marry the hairy-knuckled guy (she loves him [of course]).
Square braces are not really all that common in most writing so don’t get too worried by the
whole parenthesis within parenthesis thing if it’s giving you a headache. You do need to know
them if you’re a computer programmer or mathematician, but that’s for a whole different blog.

14. Slash

Slashes are most often used to distinguish between two terms such as “he/she”,
“period/full-stop”. They are usually used in place of the words “or” or “and.” They can also used
in abbreviations (i.e., w/, w/out, and/or). One final use of the slash is to separate lines of poetry
when they are reproduced in a solid block of text:

I have a spelling checker,/It came with my PC./It plane lee marks four my
revue/Miss steaks aye can knot sea.
What is Syntax? Definition, Examples
of English Syntax
Home » The Writer’s Dictionary » What is Syntax? Definition, Examples of English Syntax
Syntax definition: Syntax is the grammatical structure of words and phrases to
create coherent sentences.
What is syntax?
What does syntax mean? Syntax is the grammatical structure of sentences.
The format in which words and phrases are arranged to create sentences is
called syntax.
Let’s look at an example of how a sentence can be rearranged to create varied
syntax.

Examples of Syntax in a Sentence:

 The boy jumped happily.
 The boy happily jumped.
 Happily, the boy jumped.

By rearranging just one word in the

sentence, a varied syntax is formed. Each is grammatically correct and
acceptable English language form.

A writer will vary sentence syntax to make writing more interesting or to

emphasize a particular point.

Words and phrases must follow English rules for correct arrangement and
coherent sentences.

Syntax vs. Diction: What’s the Difference?

Syntax and diction are different concepts in grammar and in literature.

What is syntax? Syntax is the arrangement of words that make a sentence.

What is diction? Diction is word choice.
 The following examples have similar
syntax but different diction.

 The boy jumped happily.

 The girl sang beautifully.
 The dog barked loudly.
Each of these sentences has the same syntax. Each sentence follows the
structure of subject-verb-adverb. However, each sentence uses different diction
(word choice).

The following examples have similar diction but different syntax.

 The boy jumped happily.

 The boy happily
 Happily, the boy jumped.
Each of these sentences has the same diction. Each sentence uses the same
four words. However, each sentence has different word order to create different
syntax.

In other words, diction and syntax focus on different things. Diction focuses on
word choice, while syntax focuses on the order and structure of those words.

Proper Syntax in English Sentences

In English, a strong, active voice

sentence will always have the subject doing the action of the sentence. These
sentences will follow a basic subject-verb-object format.

Below are a few examples of different types of syntax in English. Each of these
examples has different syntax.

Simple sentences follow a subject-verb format.

Simple Syntax Examples:
  The boy jumped.
 The girl sang.
Compound sentences have more than one subject or verb.
Compound Syntax Examples:
 The boy jumped and the girl sang.
 I did not go to the concert but I went to the fair.
Complex sentences contain a subordinating clause.
Complex Syntax Examples:
 The boy jumped even though he was nervous.
 Because she was excited, the girl sang.
Compound-complex sentences contain two independent clauses and more
dependent clauses.
Compound-complex Syntax Examples:
 Even though he was nervous, the boy jumped and he landed across the
stream.
 The girl sang and the woman shrieked because they were excited.

Parallel Structure in Sentences

When constructing sentences, it is

important to always keep in mind that ideas should be parallel.

In English, parallel structure is most often an issue when creating a series list.
Therefore, we will look at an example of appropriate parallel structure through
lists.

Correct example:
 I like running, jumping, and hiking.
In this example, three gerunds are used (running, jumping, hiking) to create the
grammatically correct list.

Incorrect example:
 I like to run, jumping, and hiking.
In this example, “to run” and “jumping” and “hiking” are not parallel. “To run” is an
infinitive and “jumping” and “hiking” are gerunds. This sentence is grammatically
incorrect and this sentence does not have proper syntax.

Summary: What is Syntax in Literature?

 Define syntax: the definition of syntax is,
 the arrangement of words and phrases to create sentences
 a way for writers to express creativity and create interest
 a balance of words that must be parallel to be grammatically correct

Nouns
What is a Noun?
The simplest definition of a noun is a thing and nouns are the basic building blocks of
sentences. These things can represent a person, animal, place, idea, emotion – almost
any thing that you can think of. Dog, Sam, we, love, phone, Chicago, courage and spaceship are all
nouns. The more nouns you know in a language, the better you will be able to communicate your
ideas. Here, we’ll take a closer look at what makes a noun a noun, and we’ll provide some examples
of how nouns are used.

Noun examples: respect, faith, apple, seashore, peanut, motorcycle

Noun examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

1. The boy and girl were holding hands as they crossed the bridge to on the way to town.
2. I love watching my cat play with the pink yarn.
3. It is raining! Everyone, grab your umbrella and rain hat and watch out for the puddles!

Categories of Nouns
There are several categories of nouns, and there can be an overlap across the categories. For
example, there are common and propernouns, and concrete and abstract nouns, yet some nouns
are both concrete and common, or concrete and proper. It will become clear as you read on.

Common nouns are the words that refer to most general things: country, evening, laughter, puppy,
umbrella

Common noun examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

 Cathy loves the weekends in the country.

 We enjoy swimming after breakfast.
 The cup fell and broke.
 Proper nouns are the name that identifies someone or something, a person or a place. Proper
nouns are capitalized. John is a proper noun, since the word John represents a particular, single
example of a thing, John.

Proper noun examples: Mary, Jimmy, Aunt Audrey, Honda, Philadelphia

Proper noun examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

 Emily loved spending time with her Aunt Nancy in Paris.

 Buick and Jeep are two important carmakers.
 We visited Lake Erie, which separates the United States and Canada.
Concrete nouns represent a thing that is real and tangible: pig, person, rock, smell, air, soup,
Larry are all concrete nouns.

Concrete noun examples: cup, computer, diamond, rollercoaster, shampoo, Debby

Concrete noun examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

 The person threw the rock across the yard.

 My dog, Oreo, jumped in the air and caught the ball!
 Can you smell the soup, John?
An abstract noun represents a thing that is more like a concept or idea: love, integrity, democracy,
friendship, beauty, knowledge are examples of abstract nouns.

Abstract noun examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

 Love and friendship are equally important.

 Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
 Your mind can know a million things.
Nouns can also be categorized as countable or uncountable.

A countable noun is a thing can be numbered or counted: airplane, sock, bowl, noodle, teacher, as
in two airplanes, three socks, 1000 noodles.

Countable noun examples: peach, horse, shirt, telescope

Countable noun examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

 There are five dogs in the street.

 I bought three tons of coal.
 Margaret has six pairs of blue sandals.
Uncountable nouns can have a quantity or amount but cannot be actually counted: water, music,
clothes, understanding. In the second example above, tons is a countable noun, but coal is not. Coal
is referred to as an uncountable noun.

Uncountable noun examples: hate, confidence, attractiveness, wisdom

Uncountable noun examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

 Love is in the air.

 The four elements are air, earth, fire and water.
 Her humor knows no bounds.
Collective nouns refer to a group of people or things: audience, team, bunch, family, class. When
speaking of collective nouns, Americans consider them as singular, using singular verbs with them,
such as the group dances happily. When speaking British English, both singular verbs and plural
verbs might be used, as in the group dance crazily before the Queen.

Collective noun examples: government, jury, team, bunch, school, class, and room (the people in the
room or building)

Collective noun examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

 The team threw confetti when it was over.

 Steve buys the band some sandwiches.
 Meredith told the class she was getting married.
As mentioned above, when we talk of categories of nouns, some nouns can be described as being
in more than one category. Some nouns are concrete and countable, for example, such as raindrops
and wedding rings, while some are proper and uncountable, such as the Atlantic Ocean and Alaska.

Forms of Nouns
The same noun can appear in different forms, depending on how it is used.

A countable noun can be singular or plural. Most nouns in English form the plural by adding -s or -
es to the noun, although there are some exceptions:

 One dog, two dogs, red dog, blue dog.

 I missed not just one bus today, but two buses.
 New York City is one of the grandest cities in the world.
Uncountable nouns and proper nouns are always considered to be singular:
 The air in the countryside and in the city is clean and fresh (not the airs).
 All knowledge is a good thing (not knowledges).
 Florida has mostly warm weather in the winter.
Nouns can also indicate ownership. This form of a noun is called a possessive noun, and is
indicated by an apostrophe and the letter –s. It is equivalent to using the word of and the noun.

 The light’s color is red. (or: The color of the light is red.)
 The country’s flag has blue stripes. (or: The flag of the country has blue stripes.)
 The hunters’ guns were loaded. (or: The guns of the hunters were loaded.)
Note that when the noun already ends with -s, possession is indicated by adding only an apostrophe
– hunters’ guns, not hunters’s guns.

A noun can be used as the subject of a sentence, or in another capacity as an object:

 John is nice. – John is the subject of the sentence

 I saw John – John is the simple (direct) object of the sentence.
 I gave John the phone. – John is the indirect object of the sentence.
 I gave the phone to John. – John is the object of the preposition to.

Additional Info About Nouns

Sometimes nouns are used as adjectives, which is referred to as a noun adjunct. In fact, English is
amazingly flexible in that almost any noun can also be used as an adjective, though sometimes the
use is considered comical or slangy:

 Ocean view – Ocean describes the type of view you would see outside your window.
 Jazz concert – Jazz is specifying what kind of concert is being played.
 Cheese omelet – It’s a certain type of omelet, eggs with cheese. Using a true adjective as in
a cheesy omelet means any type of omelet (onion and peppers, mushroom) that has a lot of cheese.
 Dog tired – Really really tired – even though dogs aren’t known to be especially tired.
 Fear Factor – An example of using just any old word as a noun adjunct.

Pronouns
 Grammarly

GRAM M AR TIP S

What Is a Pronoun?

Pronouns make up a small subcategory of nouns. The distinguishing characteristic of

pronouns is that they can be substituted for other nouns. For instance, if you’re telling
a story about your sister Sarah, the story will begin to sound repetitive if you keep
repeating “Sarah” over and over again.

Sarah has always loved fashion. Sarah announced that Sarah wants to go to fashion school.

You could try to mix it up by sometimes referring to Sarah as “my sister,” but then it
sounds like you’re referring to two different people.

Sarah has always loved fashion. My sister announced that Sarah wants to go to fashion school.

Instead, you can use the pronouns she and her to refer to Sarah.

Sarah has always loved fashion. She announced that she wants to go to fashion school.

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misspellings, grammatical and punctuation mistakes, and other writing issues on all your favorite
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Personal Pronouns

There are a few different types of pronouns, and some pronouns belong to more than
one category. She and her are known as personal pronouns. The other personal
pronouns are I and me, you, he and him, it, we and us, and they and them. If you
learned about pronouns in school, these are probably the words your teacher focused
on. We’ll get to the other types of pronouns in a moment.

Antecedents

Pronouns are versatile. The pronoun it can refer to just about anything: a bike, a tree, a
movie, a feeling. That’s why you need an antecedent. An antecedent is a noun or
noun phrase that you mention at the beginning of a sentence or story and later replace
with a pronoun. In the examples below, the antecedent is highlighted and the pronoun
that replaces it is bolded.

My family drives me nuts, but I love them. The sign was too far away for Henry to
read it. Sarah said she is almost finished with the application.

In some cases, the antecedent doesn’t need to be mentioned explicitly, as long as the
context is totally clear. It’s usually clear who the pronouns I, me, and you refer to
based on who is speaking.

It’s also possible to use a pronoun before you mention the antecedent, but try to avoid
doing it in long or complex sentences because it can make the sentence hard to follow.

I love them, but my family drives me nuts.

Relative Pronouns

Relative pronouns make up another class of pronouns. They are used to connect
relative clauses to independent clauses. Often, they introduce additional information
about something mentioned in the sentence. Relative pronouns
include that, what, which, who, and whom. Traditionally, who refers to people,
and which and that refer to animals or things.

The woman who called earlier didn’t leave a message. All the dogs that got adopted today will be loved.
My car , which is nearly twenty years old, still runs well.

Whether you need commas with who, which, and that depends on whether the clause
is restrictive or nonrestrictive.

Who vs. Whom—Subject and Object Pronouns

Now that we’ve talked about relative pronouns, let’s tackle the one that causes the
most confusion: who vs. whom. Who is a subject pronoun, like I, he, she,
we, and they. Whom is an object pronoun, like me, him, her, us and them. When the
pronoun is the object of a verb or preposition, the object form is the one you want.
Most people don’t have much trouble with the objective case of personal pronouns
because they usually come immediately after the verb or preposition that modifies it.

Please mail it to I.

Please mail it to me.

Ms. Higgins caught they passing notes.

Ms. Higgins caught them passing notes.

Is this cake for we?

Is this cake for us?

Whom is trickier, though, because it usually comes before the verb or preposition that
modifies it.

Whom did you speak to earlier?

A man, whom I have never seen before, was asking about you.

Whom should I say is calling?

One way to test whether you need who or whom is to try substituting a personal
pronoun. Find the place where the personal pronoun would normally go and see
whether the subject or object form makes more sense.

Who/whom did you speak to earlier? Did you speak to he/him earlier?

A man, whom I have never seen before, was asking about you. Have I
seen he/himbefore?

Whom should I say is calling? Should I say she/her is calling?

If the object pronoun (him or her) sounds right, use whom. If the subject pronoun (he
or she) sounds right, use who.

Before we move on, there’s one more case where the choice between subject and
object pronouns can be confusing. Can you spot the problem in the sentences below?

Henry is meeting Sarah and I this afternoon. There are no secrets between you and I. It doesn’t matter to
him or I.

In each of the sentences above, the pronoun I should be me. If you remove the other
name or pronoun from the sentence, it becomes obvious.

Henry is meeting I this afternoon. No one keeps secrets from I. It doesn’t matter to I.
Demonstrative Pronouns

That, this, these and those are demonstrative pronouns. They take the place of a noun
or noun phrase that has already been mentioned.

This is used for singular items that are nearby. These is used for multiple items that
are nearby. The distance can be physical or metaphorical.

Here is a letter with no return address. Who could have sent this? What a fantastic idea! This is the best
thing I’ve heard all day. If you think gardenias smell nice, try smelling these.

That is used for singular items that are far away. Those is used for multiple items that
are far away. Again, the distance can be physical or metaphorical.

A house like that would be a nice place to live. Some new flavors of soda came in last week. Why don’t
you try some of those? Those aren’t swans, they’re geese.

Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns are used when you need to refer to a person or thing that doesn’t
need to be specifically identified. Some common indefinite pronouns are one, other,
none, some, anybody, everybody, and no one.

Everybody was late to work because of the traffic jam. It matters more to some than others. Nobody
knows the trouble I’ve seen.

When indefinite pronouns function as subjects of a sentence or clause, they usually

take singular verbs.

Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns

Reflexive pronouns end in -self or -selves: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself,
ourselves, yourselves, themselves.

Use a reflexive pronoun when both the subject and object of a verb refer to the same
person or thing.

Henry cursed himself for his poor eyesight. They booked themselves a room at the resort. I told myself it
was nothing.

Intensive pronouns look the same as reflexive pronouns, but their purpose is different.
Intensive pronouns add emphasis.

I built this house myself. Did you yourself see Loretta spill the coffee?

“I built this house” and “I built this house myself” mean almost the same thing. But
“myself” emphasizes that I personally built the house—I didn’t hire someone else to
do it for me. Likewise, “Did you see Loretta spill the coffee?” and “Did you yourself
see Loretta spill the coffee?” have similar meanings. But “yourself” makes it clear that
the person asking wants to know whether you actually witnessed the incident or
whether you only heard it described by someone else.

Occasionally, people are tempted to use myself where they should use me because it
sounds a little fancier. Don’t fall into that trap! If you use a -self form of a pronoun,
make sure it matches one of the uses above.

Please call Sarah or myself if you are going to be late. Loretta, Henry, and myself are pleased to welcome
you to the neighborhood.

Possessive Pronouns
Possessive pronouns come in two flavors: limiting and absolute. My, your, its, his,
her, our, their and whose are used to show that something belongs to an antecedent.

Sarah is working on her application. Just put me back on my bike.

The students practiced their presentation after school.

The absolute possessive pronouns are mine, yours, his, hers, ours, and theirs. The
absolute forms can be substituted for the thing that belongs to the antecedent.

Are you finished with your application? Sarah already finished hers. The blue bike is mine. I practiced my
speech and the students practiced theirs.

Some possessive pronouns are easy to mix up with similar-looking contractions.

Remember, possessive personal pronouns don’t include apostrophes.

Interrogative Pronouns

Interrogative pronouns are used in questions. The interrogative pronouns

are who, what, which, and whose.

Who wants a bag of jelly beans? What is your name? Which movie do you want to watch? Whose jacket
is this?

Adjectives

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GRAM M AR TIP S

What Are Adjectives?

Adjectives are words that describe the qualities or states of being of nouns: enormous,
doglike, silly, yellow, fun, fast. They can also describe the quantity of nouns: many,
few, millions, eleven.

Adjectives Modify Nouns

Most students learn that adjectives are words that modify (describe) nouns. Adjectives
do not modify verbs or adverbs or other adjectives.

Margot wore a beautiful hat to the pie-eating contest.

Furry dogs may overheat in the summertime.

My cake should have sixteen candles.

The scariest villain of all time is Darth Vader.

In the sentences above, the adjectives are easy to spot because they come immediately
before the nouns they modify.

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But adjectives can do more than just modify nouns. They can also act as a
complement to linking verbs or the verb to be. A linking verb is a verb like to feel, to
seem, or to taste that describes a state of being or a sensory experience.
That cow sure is happy.

It smells gross in the locker room.

Driving is faster than walking.

The technical term for an adjective used this way is predicate adjective.

Uses of Adjectives

Adjectives tell the reader how much—or how many—of something you’re talking
about, which thing you want passed to you, or which kind of something you want.

Please use three white flowers in the arrangement.

Three and white are modifying flowers.

Often, when adjectives are used together, you should separate them with a comma or
conjunction. See “Coordinate Adjectives” below for more detail.

I’m looking for a small, good-tempered dog to keep as a pet.

My new dog is small and good-tempered.

Degrees of Comparison
Adjectives come in three forms: absolute, comparative, and superlative. Absolute
adjectives describe something in its own right.

A cool guy

A messy desk

A mischievous cat

Garrulous squirrels

Comparative adjectives, unsurprisingly, make a comparison between two or more

things. For most one-syllable adjectives, the comparative is formed by adding the
suffix -er (or just -r if the adjective already ends with an e). For two-syllable
adjectives ending in -y, replace -y with -ier. For multi-syllable adjectives, add the
word more.

A cooler guy

A messier desk

A more mischievous cat

More garrulous squirrels

Superlative adjectives indicate that something has the highest degree of the quality in
question. One-syllable adjectives become superlatives by adding the suffix -est (or
just -st for adjectives that already end in e). Two-syllable adjectives ending in -
yreplace -y with -iest. Multi-syllable adjectives add the word most. When you use an
article with a superlative adjective, it will almost always be the definite article (the)
rather than a or an. Using a superlative inherently indicates that you are talking about
a specific item or items.

The coolest guy

The messiest desk

The most mischievous cat

The most garrulous squirrels

Coordinate Adjectives

Coordinate adjectives should be separated by a comma or the word and. Adjectives

are said to be coordinate if they modify the same noun in a sentence.

This is going to be a long, cold winter.

Isobel’s dedicated and tireless efforts made all the difference.

But just the fact that two adjectives appear next to each other doesn’t automatically
mean they are coordinate. Sometimes, an adjective and a noun form a single semantic
unit, which is then modified by another adjective. In this case, the adjectives are not
coordinate and should not be separated by a comma.

My cat, Goober, loves sleeping on this tattered woolen sweater.

No one could open the old silver locket.

In some cases, it’s pretty hard to decide whether two adjectives are coordinate or not.
But there are a couple of ways you can test them. Try inserting the word andbetween
the adjectives to see if the phrase still seems natural. In the first sentence, “this
tattered and woolen sweater” doesn’t sound right because you really aren’t talking
about a sweater that is both tattered and woolen. It’s a woolen sweater that
is tattered. Woolen sweater forms a unit of meaning that is modified by tattered.

Another way to test for coordinate adjectives is to try switching the order of the
adjectives and seeing if the phrase still works. In the second sentence, you wouldn’t
say “No one could open the silver old locket.” You can’t reverse the order of the
adjectives because silver locket is a unit that is modified by old.

Adjectives vs. Adverbs

As mentioned above, many of us learned in school that adjectives modify nouns and
that adverbs modify verbs. But as we’ve seen, adjectives can also act as complements
for linking verbs. This leads to a common type of error: incorrectly substituting an
adverb in place of a predicate adjective. An example you’ve probably heard before is:

I feel badly about what happened.

Because “feel” is a verb, it seems to call for an adverb rather than an adjective. But
“feel” isn’t just any verb; it’s a linking verb. An adverb would describe how you
perform the action of feeling—an adjective describes what you feel. “I feel badly”
means that you are bad at feeling things. If you’re trying to read Braille through thick
leather gloves, then it might make sense for you to say “I feel badly.” But if you’re
trying to say that you are experiencing negative emotions, “I feel bad” is the phrase
you want.

It’s easier to see this distinction with a different linking verb. Consider the difference
between these two sentences:

Goober smells badly.

Goober smells bad.

“Goober smells badly” means that Goober, the poor thing, has a weak sense of smell.
“Goober smells bad” means Goober stinks—poor us.
When Nouns Become Adjectives and Adjectives Become
Nouns

One more thing you should know about adjectives is that, sometimes, a word that is
normally used as a noun can function as an adjective, depending on its placement. For
example:

Never try to pet someone’s guide dog without asking permission first.

Guide is a noun. But in this sentence, it modifies dog. It works the other way, too.
Some words that are normally adjectives can function as nouns:

Candice is working on a fundraiser to help the homeless.

In the context of this sentence, homeless is functioning as a noun. It can be hard to

wrap your head around this if you think of adjectives and nouns only as particular
classes of words. But the terms “adjective” and “noun” aren’t just about a word’s
form—they’re also about its function.

Adverb
What is an Adverb?
An adverb is a word that is used to change, modify or qualify several types of words including
an adjective, a verb, a clause, another adverb, or any other type of word or phrase, with the
exception of determiners and adjectives, that directly modify nouns. A good way to understand
adverbs is to think about them as the words that provide context. Specifically, adverbs provide a
description of how, where, when, in what manner and to what extent something is done or happens.
Normally, we can spot an adverb by the fact that it often ends in –ly, but there are lots of adverbs
that don’t end in this way. Moreover, adverbs can be used in many combinations with each other.
 Traditionally considered a single part of speech, adverbs perform a wide variety of functions, making
it difficult to treat them as a single, unified category. However, spotting an adverb, especially one
that ends in -ly is easy. Adverbs normally help pain a fuller picture by describing how something
happens, such as

 When? She always arrives early.

 How? He drives carefully.
 Where? They go everywhere together.
 In what way? She eats slowly.
 To what extent? It is terribly hot.
This function of providing more information about how something is done is called the adverbial
function, and it may be accomplished by using adverbial clauses and adverbial phrases as well as
by adverbs that stand alone.

There are many rules for using adverbs, and these rules often depend upon which type of adverb
you are using. Remember these basics and using adverbs to make sentences more meaningful will
be easier for you.

 Adverbs can always be used to modify verbs. Notice that the second of these two sentences is much
more interesting simply because it contains an adverb:
 The dog ran. (You can picture a dog running, but you don’t really know much more about the scene.)
 The dog ran excitedly. (You can picture a dog running, wagging its tail, panting happily, and looking
glad to see its owner. You can paint a much more interesting picture in your head when you know
how or why the dog is running.)
 Adverbs are often formed by adding the letters “-ly” to adjectives. This makes it very easy to identify
adverbs in sentences. There are many exceptions to this rule; everywhere,
nowhere, and upstairs are a few examples.
 An adverb can be used to modify an adjective and intensify the meaning it conveys. For example:
 He plays tennis well. (He knows how to play tennis and sometimes he wins.)
 He plays tennis extremely well. (He knows how to play tennis so well that he wins often.)
As you read the following adverb examples, you’ll notice how these useful words modify other words
and phrases by providing information about the place, time, manner, certainty, frequency, or other
circumstances of activity denoted by the verbs or verb phrases in the sentences.

Types of Adverbs
Adverbs of Manner
 An adverb of manner will explain how an action is carried out. Very often adverbs of manner are
adjectives with -ly added to the end, but this is certainly not always the case. In fact, some adverbs
of manner will have the same spelling as the adjective form.
Some examples of adverbs of manner include:

1. Slowly
2. Rapidly
3. Clumsily
4. Badly
5. Diligently
6. Sweetly
7. Warmly
8. Sadly
Adverb of manner examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

 She passed the exam easily.

 They walk quickly to catch the train.
 The dinner party went badly.
 John answered the question correctly.
Notice how the adjectives are formed by adding -ly to the adjectives bad, correct and quick, although
there is a slight spelling change when forming an adverb with the adjective easy.

As mentioned, some adverbs of manner take the same spelling as the adjective and never add an -
ly to the end:

 The boys had worked hard.

 The car drives
 Julia dances well.
Adverbs of place

An adverb of place, sometimes called spatial adverbs, will help explain where an action happens.
Adverbs of place will be associated with the action of the verb in a sentence, providing context for
direction, distance and position: southeast, everywhere, up, left, close by, back, inside, around.
These terms don’t usually end in -ly.

Adverbs of place examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

Directions
 New York is located north of Philadelphia.
 They traveled down the mountainside.
 First, I looked here, and then I looked there, but I can’t find them anywhere.
Notice that here and there are often used at the beginning of a sentence to express emphasis or in
exclamation.

 Here comes the sun.

 There is love in the air.
 Here you are!
Many times, adverbs of place can be used as prepositions as well. The difference is, when the
phrase is used as an adverb, it is modifying a verb; when it is used as a preposition, it is always
followed by a noun.

 New York is located north of Philadelphia -> New York is on the map.
 They travelled down river -> They travelled in the first compartment.
 That puppy was walking around by itself-> We put a collar around its neck.
Distance

 There was a deli

 Jane is moving far away.
 Carly is sitting close to me.
Position

 The treasure lies underneath the box.

 The cat is sleeping on the bed.
 Why are you standing in the middle of the dancefloor?
In addition, some adverbs of position will refer to a direction of movement. These often end in -ward
or -wards.

 Oscar travelled onward to Los Angeles.

 Hannah looked upwards to the heavens.
 Molly, move forward to the front of the queue, please.
Adverbs of Frequency

Adverbs of frequency are used to express time or how often something occurs. Adverbs of
frequency can be split two main groups. The first, adverbs of indefinite frequency, are terms that
have an unclear meaning as to how long are how often something occurs: usually, always,
normally. These adverbs will usually be placed after the main verb or between the auxiliary verb and
infinitive.
 Adverbs of frequency examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

 The adverb is usually placed before the main verb.

 I can normally make the shot.
 I will always love
Adverbs of definite frequency will usually be placed at the end of the sentence.

 We get paid hourly.

 I come here
 The situation seems to change monthly.
 The newspaper is bought daily.
Adverbs of Time

Adverbs of time, while seemingly similar to adverbs of frequency, tell us when something happens.
Adverbs of time are usually placed at the end of a sentence.

Adverbs of time examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

 I will see you

 Harvey forgot his lunch yesterday and again today.
 I have to go now.
 We first met Julie last year.
While it’s almost always correct to have the adverb of time at the end of the sentence, you can place
it at the start of the sentence to put a different emphasis on the time if it is important to the context.

 Last year was the worst year of my life.

 Tomorrow our fate will be sealed.
 Yesterday my troubles seemed so far away.
Adverbs of Purpose

Adverbs of purpose, sometimes called adverbs of reason, help to describe why something
happened. They can come in the form of individual words – so, since, thus, because – but also
clauses – so that, in order to. Notice in the examples that the adverbs of purpose are used to
connect sentences that wouldn’t make sense if they were formed alone.

Adverbs of purpose examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

 I was sick, thus didn’t go to work today.

 I started jogging so that I wouldn’t be late.
 Because I was late, I jogged a little faster.
 Since it’s your birthday, I will buy you a gift.
Positions of Adverbs

The positions of adverbs are not a fixed or set thing. As you have seen, adverbs can appear in
different position in a sentence. However, there are some rules that help us decide where an adverb
should be positioned. The rules will be different depending on whether the adverb is acting to modify
an adjective or another adverb, a verb or what type of adverb it is.

Positional adverb examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

Adverb position with adjectives and other adverbs

These adverbs will usually be placed before the adjective or adverb being modified:

 We gave them a really tough match. The adverb really modifies the adjective tough.
 It was quite windy that night. The adverb quite modifies the adjective windy.
 We don’t go to the movies terribly often. The adverb terribly modifies the adverb often.
Adverb position with verbs

This can be a bit trickier because, it will depend on the type of adverb – place, position, time etc. –
and there are many exceptions to the rules. However, a basic set of guidelines is shown below:

Adverbs of manner or place are usually positioned at the end of the sentence:

 She laughed timidly.

 I stroked the cat gently.
 Janine lived here.
 There is money everywhere.
As mentioned, if the adverb is of definite time it will be placed at the end of the sentence.

 I did it yesterday.
 We can discuss it tomorrow.
 Let’s go to Paris next week.
However, if it is an indefinite period of time, it will go between the subject and main verb.

 We often go to Paris in the springtime.

 Debbie regularly swims here.
 Bobby and Audrey always loved fishing by the lake.
Order of Adverbs
Adverb order is so important it has clear rules. It’s already mentioned that some adverbs will act to
modify another, but how do you decide the structure of a sentence with several adverbs? Thankfully,
there is a simple set of rules to follow, called the order of adverbs. Handily, the order of adverbs,
sometimes also called the royal order of adverbs, can help us determine sentence structure too. In
short, the adverbs get preference (are placed first) in the following order:

1. Adverbs of manner.
2. Adverbs of place.
3. Adverbs of frequency.
4. Adverbs of time.
5. Adverbs of purpose.
Consider this sentence:

I run (verb) quickly (manner) down the road (place) every morning (frequency) before
school (time) because (purpose) I might miss the bus.

While it is good to remember the order of adverbs, there is always flexibility with language, and we
have already mentioned that adverbs of time and frequency can be placed at the start of a sentence
to change the emphasis. So, bottom line: think of the order of adverbs as more of a guideline than a
rule that can’t be broken.

Examples of Adverbs
As you read each of the following adverb examples, note that the adverbs have been italicized for
easy identification. Consider how replacing the existing adverbs with different ones would change
the meaning of each sentence.

1. She was walking rapidly.

2. The kids love playing together in the sandbox.
3. Please come inside now.
4. His jokes are always very
5. You don’t really care, do you?

Adverbs List
There are many different words that function as adverbs. The following list is broken down into
segments which list adverbs by function. After reading, you will be able to think of additional adverbs
to add to your own list – after all, there are thousands.
Many adverbs end in “-ly”. This makes it very easy to spot the adverbs in most sentences.

Abruptly

Boldly

Carefully

Deliberately

Excitedly

Financially

Horribly

Mildly

Naughtily

Openly

Poorly

Quickly

Sadly

Terribly

Willingly

Yearly

Some adverbs tell us where the action happened. These are known as adverbs of place.

Everywhere

Here

Inside
There

Underground

Upstairs

Certain adverbs let us know when or how often the action happened. These are known
as adverbs of time and adverbs of frequency.

After

Always

Before

Later

Now

Today

Yesterday

Many adverbs tell us the extent of the action.

Almost

Enough

So

Too

Quite

Rather

Very

Some adverbs are used as intensifiers.

Absolutely

Certain

Completely

Heartily

Really

Certain adverbs called adverbs of manner tell us about the way in which something was
done.

Briskly

Cheerfully

Expectantly

Randomly

Willingly

Some groups of words serve the same functions as adverbs. These are known as adverb clauses.
Be sure to read the adverb clausesection to learn new ways to make your sentences even more
interesting.

Verbs
What is a verb?
Verbs are the action words in a sentence that describe what the subject is doing. Along with nouns,
verbs are the main part of a sentence or phrase, telling a story about what is taking place. In fact,
without a verb, full thoughts can’t be properly conveyed, and even the simplest sentences, such
as Maria sings, have one. Actually, a verb can be a sentence by itself, with the subject, in most case
you, implied, such as, Sing! and Drive!
When learning the rules of grammar, schoolchildren are often taught that verbs are ‘doing’ words,
meaning they signify the part of the sentence which explains the action taking place: He ran away,
she eats chocolate cake on Sundays, the horses gallop across the fields. Ran, eats and gallop are
the ‘action’ parts of those sentences, thus they are the verbs. However, it can be confusing because
not all verbs are easily identifiable as action: I know your name, Jack thought about it,
we considered several applications. These are non-action verbs, i.e. those that describe a state of
being, emotion, possession, sense or opinion. Other non-action verbs include include love, agree,
feel, am, and have.

How to Recognize a Verb

As you can see from the examples above, one clue to help you recognize a verb is its location
compared to the subject. Verbs almost always come after a noun or pronoun. These nouns and
pronouns are referred to as the subject. The verb thought comes after the noun Jack, so the action
Jack (subject) was taking was thinking (verb).

1. Mark eats his dinner quickly.

2. We went to the market.
3. You write neatly in your notebook.
4. They thought about all the prizes in the competition.
Here are some other ways to recognize verbs in a sentence:

1. If you’re not sure if a word is a verb, ask yourself, “Can I do ______?”

Can I think, wonder, walk, yawn? Yes, so these are verbs.

2. You can also ask, ”What is happening?”

In the sentence Mark eats his dinner quickly, what is happening? Eating is happening, so eating is
the verb.

In the sentence They thought about all the prizes what is happening? Thought (thinking) is
happening, so thought is the verb.

Physical Verbs – Definition and Examples

Physical verbs are action verbs. They describe specific physical actions. If you can create a motion
with your body or use a tool to complete an action, the word you use to describe it is most likely a
physical verb. For example, Joe sat in his chair, the dog breathes quickly after she chases her
ball, and should we vote in the election? Even when the action isn’t very active, if the action is done
by the body or a tool, consider it a physical verb.
 Physical Verb Examples

The physical verb examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

 Let’s run to the corner and back.

 I hear the train coming.
 Call me when you’re finished with class.

Mental Verbs – Definition and Examples

Mental verbs have meanings that are related to concepts such as discovering, understanding,
thinking, or planning. In general, a mental verb refers to a cognitive state.

Mental Verb – Definition and Examples

Mental verbs have meanings that are related to concepts such as discovering, understanding,
thinking, or planning. In general, a mental verb refers to a cognitive state.

Mental Verb Examples

The mental verb examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

 I know the answer.

 She recognized me from across the room.
 Do you believe everything people tell you?

States of Being Verbs – Definition and Examples

Also known as linking verbs, state of being verbs describe conditions or situations that exist. State of
being verbs are inactive since no action is being performed. These verbs, forms of to be, such as
am, is, are, are usually complemented by adjectives.

States of Being Verb Examples

The state of being verbs in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

 I am a student.
 We are circus performers.
 Please is quiet.

Types of Verbs
There are many types of verbs. In addition to the main categories of physical verbs, mental verbs,
and state of being verbs, there are several other types of verbs. In fact, there are more than ten
different types of verbs that are grouped together by function.

List of all Verb Types

Action Verbs
Action verbs express specific actions and are used any time you want to show action or discuss
someone doing something. It’s important to remember that the action does not have to be physical.

Action verb examples:

1. Run
2. Dance
3. Slide
4. Jump
5. Think
6. Do
7. Go
8. Stand
9. Smile
10. Listen.
The action verb examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

I run faster than David.

He does it well.

She thinks about poetry all day long

Transitive Verbs
Transitive verbs are action verbs that always express doable activities that relate or affect someone
or something else. These other things are generally direct objects, nouns or pronouns that are
affected by the verb, though some verbs can also take an indirect object, such as show, take, and
make. In a sentence with a transitive verb, someone or something receives the action of the verb.
Transitive verb examples:

1. Love
2. Respect

3. Tolerate

4. Believe

5. Maintain.

The transitive verb examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

Gary ate the cookies.

The transitive verb is ate, Gary is the subject, because it is Gary who is doing the eating,
and the cookies are the direct object, because it is the cookies that are being eaten. Other
examples:

He kicked John.

John punches him.

They sold the tickets.

Examples of verbs used with both direct and indirect objects:

They sell him the tickets.

In this sentence, the tickets are the direct object while him is the indirect object.

Mary baked her mother a pie.

In this sentence, a pie is the direct object while her mother is the indirect object.

Intransitive Verbs
Intransitive verbs are action verbs that always express doable activities. They are different from
transitive verbs because there is no direct object following an intransitive verb.

Intransitive verb examples:

1. Walk
2. Laugh

3. Cough

4. Play

5. Run

The intransitive verb examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

We travelled to London.

The intransitive verb is travelled, the subject is we, because we are doing the travelling,
but London is not a direct object because London is not receiving the action of the verb. Other
examples:

I sneeze in the morning.

He arrived with moments to spare.

Kathryn sat away from the others.

John eats before leaving for school.

The last example shows that the verb eats can be both transitive and intransitive depending on
whether there is a direct object or not. If the sentence read: John eats the cookies before leaving for
school, eats would be transitive as there is a direct object – the cookies.

By the way, some verbs can be both transitive and intransitive. These verbs include: start, leave,
change, live, stop.

Auxiliary Verbs
Auxiliary verbs are also known as helping verbs and are used together with a main verb to show the
verb’s tense or to form a question or negative. Common examples of auxiliary verbs include have,
might, will. These auxiliary verbs give some context to the main verb, for example, letting the reader
know when the action took place.

Auxiliary verb examples:

1. Would
2. Should

3. Do

4. Can

5. Did

6. Could

7. May

The auxiliary verb examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

I will go home after football practice.

The auxiliary verb will is telling us that the action of the main verb go is going to take place in the
future – after football practice has ended. If the auxiliary verb will was removed, we get the
sentence:

I go home after football practice.

In this case, there is no definite time frame for the action. The sentence suggests that going home
after football practice is just something the subject I generally does. Other examples:

I may dance with you later.

We did consider Bryan’s feelings.

Jenny has spoken her final words.

In addition, we can sometimes use the auxiliary very before the pronoun to make a question:

Might you dance with me later?

Did we consider Bryan’s feelings?

Has Jenny spoken her final words?

Also, auxiliary verbs are used to help form negative statements, with the use of words
like not and never. These will usually split the auxiliary and main verbs:

I may never dance with you again.

We did not consider Bryan’s feelings.

Jenny has not spoken her final words.

Stative Verbs
Stative verbs can be recognized because they express a state rather than an action. They
typically relate to thoughts, emotions, relationships, senses, states of being, and
measurements. The best way to think about stative verbs is that they are verbs that describe things
that are not actions. The stative verbs are all expressing a state: A state of doubting, a state of
believing, a state of wanting. These states of being are often temporary.

The stative verb examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

The doctor disagrees with your analysis.

Disagree is a stative verb here, as it describes the doctor’s state of being – disagreement.

John doubts the doctor’s opinion.

I believe the doctor is right.

She wanted another opinion.

Modal Verbs
Modal verbs are auxiliary verbs that are used to express abilities, possibilities, permissions, and
obligations.

Modal verb examples:

1. Can

2. Must

3. May
4. Should

5. Would

The modal verb examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

He can shoot a three-point shot easily.

The auxiliary verb can is expressing an ability, suggesting that shooting a three-point shot is a skill
the subject possesses.

Please note that in the case of should and must in the examples below, the modal verbs are
expressing obligations, whereas would and mayare expressing possibilities.

I should go home.

You must not delay.

Sally would not recommend the sushi.

David may be late.

Phrasal Verbs
Phrasal verbs aren’t single words; instead, they are combinations of words that are used together to
take on a different meaning to that of the original verb. There are many examples of phrasal verbs,
some of which have colloquial meanings, such as make up, hand in, bring up, point out, look forward
to. Each time the verb takes the extra word(s) it takes on a new meaning. For
example, make without the upexpresses that something is being created, whereas with make up, the
suggestion is that there are some lies or a fantastical element to the story and make out can mean
either to grasp or see something difficult, or to kiss passionately.

Phrasal verb examples:

1. Run out

2. Go all out

3. Make out

4. Hand out
5. Bring out

6. Face up

7. Think through

The phrasal verb examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

Mary looked forward to her high school reunion.

The verb looked has taken on forward to to become a phrasal verb meaning to be excited about or
eagerly await something.

He brought up the same points again and again.

Leroy handed in the wallet to the police.

I make up stories all the time.

She pointed out Donald’s mistake.

Irregular Verbs
Irregular verbs are those that don’t take on the regular spelling patterns of past simple and past
participle verbs. Unfortunately, there are hundreds of irregular verbs in the English language. But
don’t worry, while many are used often, the majority are not in common usage – or if they are, you
will use them so often you will learn them quickly. Some of the most common irregular verbs include:
say, make, go, take, come, know and see.

Irregular verb examples:

1. Eat

2. Think

3. Bring

4. Hold

5. Bear
6. Buy

7. Lay

8. Catch

9. Drive

10. Paid

11. Feel

12. Redo

The irregular verb examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

I take my time when I go to the shops (present tense)

I took my time when I went to the shops (past tense)

Julie makes cake for the classroom (present tense)

Julie made a cake for the classroom (past tense)

She sees a silhouette shaped like a man in the window (present tense)

She saw a silhouette shaped like a man in the window (past tense)

We come to Aunt Jane’s for Thanksgiving each year (present tense)

We came to Aunt Jane’s for Thanksgiving each year (past tense).

You should also remember that auxiliary verbs ‘do’ and ‘have’ are also irregular verbs:

I do agree.

He does it often.

We have done our homework early.

They do their homework on Fridays.

I have a suspicion about Fran

Fran has a devious look.

We have no money left.

They have had a cough twice this winter.

Conjunctions

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Without conjunctions, you’d be forced to express every complex idea in a series of

short, simplistic sentences: I like cooking. I like eating. I don’t like washing dishes
afterward.

What Are Conjunctions?

Conjunctions are words that link other words, phrases, or clauses together.

I like cooking and eating, but I don’t like washing dishes afterward. Sophie is clearly exhausted, yet she
insists on dancing till dawn.

Conjunctions allow you to form complex, elegant sentences and avoid the choppiness
of multiple short sentences. Make sure that the phrases joined by conjunctions
are parallel (share the same structure).
I work quickly and am careful.

I work quickly and carefully.

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misspellings, grammatical and punctuation mistakes, and other writing issues on all your favorite
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Coordinating Conjunctions

Coordinating conjunctions allow you to join words, phrases, and clauses of equal
grammatical rank in a sentence. The most common coordinating conjunctions are for,
and, nor, but, or, yet, and so; you can remember them by using the mnemonic device
FANBOYS.

I’d like pizza or a salad for lunch. We needed a place to concentrate, so we packed up our things and went
to the library. Jesse didn’t have much money, but she got by.

Notice the use of the comma when a coordinating conjunction is joining two
independent clauses.

Correlative Conjunctions

Correlative conjunctions are pairs of conjunctions that work together. Some examples
are either/or, neither/nor, and not only/but also.
Not only am I finished studying for English, but I’m also finished writing my history essay. I am finished
with both my English essay and my history essay.

Subordinating Conjunctions

Subordinating conjunctions join independent and dependent clauses. A subordinating

conjunction can signal a cause-and-effect relationship, a contrast, or some other kind
of relationship between the clauses. Common subordinating conjunctions are because,
since, as, although, though, while, and whereas. Sometimes an adverb, such as until,
after, or before can function as a conjunction.

I can stay out until the clock strikes twelve.

Here, the adverb until functions as a coordinating conjunction to connect two ideas: I
can stay out (the independent clause) and the clock strikes twelve (the dependent
clause). The independent clause could stand alone as a sentence; the dependent clause
depends on the independent clause to make sense.

The subordinating conjunction doesn’t need to go in the middle of the sentence. It has
to be part of the dependent clause, but the dependent clause can come before the
independent clause.

Before he leaves, make sure his room is clean.

If the dependent clause comes first, use a comma before the independent clause.

I drank a glass of water because I was thirsty. Because I was thirsty, I drank a glass of water.

Starting a Sentence with a Conjunction

Many of us were taught in school that it is an error to begin a sentence with a
conjunction, but that rule is a myth. As mentioned above, a subordinating conjunction
can begin a sentence if the dependent clause comes before the independent clause. It’s
also correct to begin a sentence with a coordinating conjunction. Often, it’s a good
way to add emphasis. Beginning too many sentences with conjunctions will cause the
device to lose its force, however, so use this technique sparingly.

Have a safe trip. And don’t forget to call when you get home. Gertie flung open the door. But there was
no one on the other side.

List of Conjunctions

Coordinating Conjunctions

for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so

Correlative Conjunctions

both/and, either/or, neither/nor, not only/but, whether/or

Some Subordinating Conjunctions

after, although, as, as if, as long as, as much as, as soon as, as though, because, before,
by the time, even if, even though, if, in order that, in case, in the event that, lest , now
that, once, only, only if, provided that, since, so, supposing, that, than, though, till,
unless, until, when, whenever, where, whereas, wherever, whether or not, while
 Preposition
What is a preposition?
A preposition is a word used to link nouns, pronouns, or phrases to other words within a
sentence. They act to connect the people, objects, time and locations of a sentence. Prepositions
are usually short words, and they are normally placed directly in front of nouns. In some
cases, you’ll find prepositions in front of gerund verbs.
A nice way to think about prepositions is as the words that help glue a sentence together. They do
this by expressing position and movement, possession, time and how an action is completed.

Indeed, several of the most frequently used words in all of English, such as of, to, for, with, on and
at, are prepositions. Explaining prepositions can seem complicated, but they are a common part of
language and most of us use them naturally without even thinking about it.

In fact, it’s interesting to note that prepositions are regarded as a ‘closed class’ of words in the
English language. This means, unlike verbs and nouns, no new words are added to this group over
time. In a way, it reflects their role as the functional workhorse of the sentence. They are
unassuming and subtle, yet vitally important to the meaning of language.

There are two very important rules to remember when using prepositions. Because they are
somewhat vague, learning about prepositions and using them correctly in sentences takes practice.
Because 1:1 translation is often impossible when dealing with propositions, even the most advanced
English students have some difficulty at first.

 The first rule is that to make sentences clear, specific prepositions are needed. For example, the
preposition in means one thing and the preposition on cannot substitute for it in all cases. Some
prepositions are interchangeable but not always. The correct preposition means one particular thing
and using a different proposition will give the sentence a very different meaning. I want to see
you in the house now, Bill! means something very different from I want to see you on the house
now, Bill! In the house means Bill should go through the door, walk inside, and stand in the hall or
living room. On the house means Bill would need to get a ladder and climb to the roof where he
would be on top of the house.
 The second rule for using prepositions is that prepositions are generally followed by nouns or
pronouns. There was a time in the past when teachers held strictly to this rule, but it made for some
clunky sentences. I am seeking someone I can depend on ends with the preposition on, so people
who insisted that sentences shouldn’t end with a preposition would be forced to use convoluted and
 unnatural phrasing. To avoid ending that sentence above with a preposition, you’d have to
say, someone I can depend on is whom I am seeking.
 There are more than 100 prepositions in the English language. In addition, there are endless
possibilities for creating prepositional phrases, phrases that begin with a preposition and end with a
noun or pronoun. In the following sections, you will find examples of prepositions, types of
prepositions, a comprehensive list of prepositions, and some helpful preposition exercises. As you
read the examples and study the list, remember that prepositions usually convey concepts such as
comparison, direction, place, purpose, source possession, and time.

Examples of Prepositions
In the following sentences, examples of prepositions have been italicized. As you read, consider how
using different prepositions or even different types of prepositions in place of the examples might
change the relationship between the rest of the words in the sentence.

 I prefer to read in the library.

 He climbed up the ladder to get onto the roof.
 Please sign your name on the dotted line after you read the contract.
 Go down the stairs and through the door.
 He swam across the pool.
 Take your brother with you.

Types of Prepositions
There are three types of prepositions, including time prepositions, place prepositions, and direction
prepositions.
Time prepositions are those such as before, after, during, and until; place prepositions are those
indicating position, such as around, between, and against; and direction prepositions are those
indicative of direction, such as across, up, and down. Each type of preposition is important.

Type of Prepositions
Prepositions of Time
Basic examples of time prepositions include: at, on, in, before and after. They are used to help
indicate when something happened, happens or will happen. It can get a little confusing though, as
many different prepositions can be used.

Prepositions of time examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

For example:
 I was born on July 4th, 1982.
 I was born in 1982.
 I was born at exactly 2am.
 I was born two minutes before my twin brother.
 I was born after the Great War ended.
The above makes it seem quite difficult, with five different prepositions used to indicate when
something happened. However, there is a set of guidelines that can help decide which preposition to
use:

For years, months, seasons, centuries and times of day, use the preposition in:

 I first met John in 1987.

 It’s always cold in January
 Easter falls in spring each year.
 The Second World War occurred in the 20th century.
 We eat breakfast in the morning.
For days, dates and specific holiday days, use the preposition on.

1. We go to school on Mondays, but not on Sunday

2. Christmas is on December 25th.
3. Buy me a present on my birthday.
For times, indicators of exception and festivals, use the preposition at:

 Families often argue at Christmas time.

 I work faster at night.
 Her shift finished at 7pm.
Before and after should be much easier to understand than the other examples of prepositions of
time. Both are used to explain when something happened, happens or will happen, but specifically in
relation to another thing.

 Before I discovered this bar, I used to go straight home after work.

 We will not leave before 3pm.
 David comes before Bryan in the line, but after Louise.
Other prepositions of time could include: During, about, around, until and throughout.

 The concert will be staged throughout the month of May.

 I learned how to ski during the holidays.
 He usually arrives around 3pm.
 It was about six in the morning when we made it to bed.
 The store is open until midnight.
Prepositions of Place

To confuse matters a bit, the most common prepositions to indicate time – on, at, in – are also the
most common prepositions to indicate position. However, the rules are a little clearer as place
prepositions are a more rigid concept than time prepositions.

Prepositions of place examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

 The cat is on the table.

 The dogs are in the kennel.
 We can meet at the crossroads.
The guidelines can be broken down as follows:

On is used when referring to something with a surface:

 The sculpture hangs on the wall.

 The images are on the page.
 The specials are on the menu, which is on the table.
In is used when referring to something that is inside or within confined boundaries. This could be
anything, even a country:

1. Jim is in France, visiting his aunt in the hospital.

2. The whiskey is in the jar in the fridge.
3. The girls play in the garden.
At is used when referring to something at a specific point:

1. The boys are at the entrance at the movie theater.

2. He stood at the bus stop at the corner of Water and High streets.
3. We will meet at the airport.
Lot’s of other prepositions of place, such as under, over, inside, outside, above and below are used
in English. There is, however, a lot less confusion as they refer to rigid positions rather than abstract
ones.

 The cat is under the table.

 Put the sandwich over there.
 The key is locked inside the car.
 They stepped outside the house.
 Major is ranked above corporal.
 He is waving at you from below the stairs.
Prepositions of Movement

Prepositions of movement are quite easy to understand as they are less abstract than prepositions
of place and time. Essentially, they describe how something or someone moves from one place to
another. The most commonly used preposition of movement is to, which usually serves to highlight
that there is movement towards a specific destination.

Prepositions of movement examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

 He has gone on vacation to France.

 She went to the bowling alley every Friday last summer.
 I will go to bed when I am tired.
 They will go to the zoo if they finish their errands.
Other more specific prepositions of movement include: through, across, off, down and into. These
prepositions can sometimes get mixed up with others. While they are similar, they have individual
meanings that add context to the movement.

Across refers to moving from one side to another.

 Mike travelled across America on his motorcycle.

 Rebecca and Judi are swimming across the lake.
Through refers to moving directly inside something and out the other end.

 The bullet Ben shot went through the window.

 The train passes through the tunnel.
Into refers to entering or looking inside something.

 James went into the room.

 They stare into the darkness.
Up, over, down, past and around indicate directions of movement:

1. Jack went up the hill.

2. Jill came tumbling down after.
3. We will travel over rough terrain on our way to Grandma’s house.
4. The horse runs around the track all morning.
5. A car zoomed past a truck on the highway
 How to Recognize a Preposition?

Recognizing prepositions can be challenging as they do not always follow a consistent pattern in
terms of their position in a sentence, nor do they have a discernible structure or spelling. We do
know, however, that prepositions are almost always short words, with the majority having less than
six letters. One technique people use to identify a preposition is to think of a preposition
as anywhere a mouse can go. Above, below, next to, between, beyond, through, by, with…It won’t
cover them all, but it can be a useful question to ask when trying to identify and recognize a
preposition. While there are over 100 prepositions, there are around 500,00-700,000 nouns in
English! It is unlikely anyone will learn so many nouns, but recognizing and then mastering
prepositions might be a worthwhile and attainable goal.

Prepositions with Nouns

There are lots of different nouns that carry specific prepositions to consolidate their meaning. These
are called dependent prepositions. Again, there isn’t a set rule that says a particular type of noun will
take a dependent preposition, although they normally follow the noun. Moreover, there are many
possible combinations. Essentially, it’s case of familiarizing yourself with the different possibilities of
nouns and dependent prepositions. Examples:

 He displayed cruelty towards his dog.

 She had knowledge of physics.
 The trouble with Jack.
 21 is the age at which you are allowed to drink.
 Bolt made another attempt at the world record.
 The police held an inquiry into the murder.
Prepositions with Verbs

Prepositional verbs – the phrasal combinations of verbs and prepositions – are important parts of
speech. The prepositions again act as links between the verb and noun or gerund, giving extra
meaning to the sentence. The prepositions most commonly used with verbs are: to, for, about, of, in,
at and from. The good news is that these will always come after the verb in the sentence. However,
it should also be noted that the prepositional verbs can have slightly different meaning compared to
the original verb. For example, to relate a story simply means to tell a story, to relate to a story
means you identify with it, find some personally meaning in that story.

Verb + to:
 He admitted to the charge.
 I go to Vancouver on vacation twice a year.
 William can relate to the character in the play.
Verb + for:

 He must apologize for his actions.

 We searched for ages before we found the perfect apartment.
 I provide for my family by working two jobs.
Verb + with:

 I don’t agree with your claim.

 The lawyer said he will meet with your representatives.
 They began with a quick warm-up.
Verb + of:

 I dream of a better life.

 Have you heard of Shakespeare?
 The bread consists of dough, raisins and a little honey.
Verb + in:

 Does Rick believe in miracles?

 Fallon lives in New York.
 The bus accident resulted in my being late to work.
Verb + at

1. We arrived at our destination.

2. Ilene excels at singing.
3. Will the baby smile at her mother?
Verb + on:

 We should really concentrate on our studies now.

 Helen insisted on Brenda’s company.
 Morris experimented on some canvas.
Verb + from:

 Since turning 80, she suffers from lapses in concentration.

 Dad retired from the navy in the 1970s.
 Billy Bob, please refrain from doing that.
 Prepositions with Adjectives

Prepositions can form phrases with adjectives to give further context to the action, emotion or thing
the adjective is describing. Like verbs and nouns, adjectives can be followed by: to, about, In, for,
with, at and by.

 I am happily married to David.

 Ellie is crazy about this movie.
 Michelle is interested in politics.
 We are sorry for your loss.
 Jane will be delighted with her results.
 Is he still angry at the world?
 The entire room was astonished by the election results.
There can sometimes be a pattern in deciding which prepositions go with adjectives, for example,
when adjectives have the same or very similar meaning to each other, they might take the same
preposition:

 Frightened of, afraid of, scared of, terrified of

Indeed, when adjectives have opposite meaning they might also take the same preposition:

 Good at, great at, superb at, wonderful at

 Bad at, terrible at, woeful at, inept at
There are always many exceptions to the above, but it can help that there seems to be some

consistency when adjectives have the same meaning or opposite meaning.

Nevertheless, perhaps a more general rule is that English speakers simply need to learn which
prepositions go with which adjectives, as meaning can change significantly by using a different
preposition.

 I am good at sports means I have some athletic talent.

 The nurse was good to my mother means she took care of her and was nice, kind, and helpful.
 I am good with animals means I get along with them and handle them well.
 Swimming is good for your health.
 That was good of you to come means you were begin nice and good to visit.
 My little brother is good inside (his body) means even though you can’t see how he thinks and
feels, he is good. Even if his behavior is bad.
 The blueberry jam will be good on toast.
Prepositions Exercises
The following exercises will help you gain greater understanding about how prepositions work.
Choose the best answer to complete each sentence.
1. The bone was _______ the dog.
a. About
b. For
c. After
d. Considering

Answer: b. The bone was for the dog.

2. We are going on vacation _______ August.

a. On
b. At
c. In
d. Since

Answer: c. We are going on vacation in August.

3. Please put the vase ________ the table.

a. In
b. On
c. For
d. Over

Answer: b. Please put the vase on the table.

4. I received a present ________ Janet.
a. From
b. Of
c. By
d. About

Answer: a. I received a present from Janet.

5. School begins ________ Monday.
a. In
b. On
c. From
d. Since
Answer: b. School begins on Monday.

List of Prepositions
While there are only about 150 prepositions in the English language, these words are among the
most important. Without them, the sentences we speak, read, and write would be difficult to
understand. The following list of prepositions is not a complete one, however it is among the most
comprehensive lists of prepositions available anywhere.

Aboard

About

Above

Absent

Across

After

Against

Along

Alongside

Amid

Among

Amongst

Anti

Around

As
At

Before

Behind

Below

Beneath

Beside

Besides

Between

Beyond

But

By

Circa

Concerning

Considering

Despite

Down

During

Except

Excepting

Excluding

Failing
Following

For

From

Given

In

Inside

Into

Like

Minus

Near

Of

Off

On

Onto

Opposite

Outside

Over

Past

Per

Plus

Regarding
Round

Save

Since

Than

Through

To

Toward

Towards

Under

Underneath

Unlike

Until

Up

Upon

Versus

Via

With

Within

Without

Worth
 What Is An Interjection?
What is an interjection? An interjection is one of the eight major parts of speech, along
with verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions and conjunctions. Some
grammarians believe interjections are the least important part of speech. That might be
because interjections aren't generally required in order for the meaning of a sentence to
be clear.
Interjections, like "wow" and "ouch," are solely designed to convey emotion in an abrupt
and exclamatory way. They express meaning or feeling in a word or two. They do not
relate grammatically to the other parts of the sentence, nor do they help the reader
understand the relationship between words and phrases in the sentence.
Instead, interjections simply convey the way the author (or speaker) is feeling.
Interjections are rarely used in academic or formal writing; they're more common in
fiction or artistic writing. They're usually, but not always, offset by an exclamation point
(which is also used to show emotion).
Use of Interjections
You'll find interjections at the beginning of sentences, in the middle of sentences, at the
end of sentences, and sometimes as standalone sentences on their own.
Beginning of Sentences
Interjections are commonly used at the beginning of the sentence. They're also
associated with a punctuation mark designed to convey emotion: the exclamation point.
For example:
 "Yikes, I didn't realize that there was a test on grammar today!"
 "Oh no, I can't believe that it is snowing here again!"
 "Wow, this is such a pleasant surprise!"
In these sentences, the interjection ("yikes", "oh no" and "wow") appear at the beginning
of the sentence. In addition, the emotion is strong and the sentence itself ends with an
exclamation point to illustrate that..
Middle or End of Sentences
Interjections don't always have to be at the beginning of a sentence. They can appear in
the middle, at the end, or anywhere else where the author wants to interject a bit of
feeling and emotion. For example:
 "So, it's snowing again, huh?"
The interjection is found at the end of this sentence. The interjection "huh" is designed
to express confusion (or perhaps dismay) at the continued snow falling. In this example,
the emotion wasn't an emotion that necessitated an exclamation point--instead, the
interjection turned the sentence into a question.
Here's another example:
 "In my opinion, my gosh, this is just the smartest thing you've ever said."
The interjection, "my gosh," is found in the middle of this sentence. It's designed to
express the author's emphasis on his opinion and no exclamation point was required.
As a Standalone Sentence
An interjection can also be used by itself as a standalone sentence.
 "Oh gosh! I can't believe how late it is."
The interjection "oh gosh" is a standalone sentence with an exclamation mark. This is
grammatically correct, even though "Oh gosh" doesn't contain a subject or verb, both
normally required for a complete thought. The interjection--or the emotion--is the entire
point of the sentence.
Types of Interjections
There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of interjections in the English language.
Most are designed to express strong emotions, such as love, hate, surprise, happiness,
anger, enthusiasm, disgust, boredom, confusion, or unhappiness. However, this isn't
always true. Some interjections can express either a mild emotion, or can be
expressions, such as "Excuse me."
A sample list of interjections includes words such as:
 Aha
 Boo
 Crud
 Dang
 Eew
 Gosh
 Goodness
 Ha
 Oh
 Oops
 Oh no
 Ouch
 Rats
 Shoot
 Uh-oh
 Uh-huh
 Ugh
 Yikes
 Yuck
 Yup
This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it is representative of the types of
interjections you may use on a daily basis. For more examples see Examples of
Interjections.

What is Inflection? Definition,

Examples of English Inflection
Home » The Writer’s Dictionary » What is Inflection? Definition, Examples of English Inflection
Inflection definition: Inflection is the grammatical term for letters added to
nouns, adjectives, and verbs to show their different grammatical forms.
What is Inflection?
Inflection is the change of form a noun, adjective, verb, etc., undergoes to
distinguish its case, gender, mood, number, voice, etc. Inflection occurs when the
word is used to express various meanings.
When words are inflected, letters are added to the base form of words.

Example Inflections
 base word: fox
 inflection (plural): foxes
 base word: run
 inflection (present participle) running
Inflection for Number (Nouns)

Nouns are one part of

speech that change with inflection.

Nouns change to show number—singular or plural.

A singular noun includes just one noun. A plural noun includes more than one of
that noun.

Sometimes, adding “-s” creates the inflection to make a plural noun.

Examples singular/plural with “-s:”

 goat/goats
 table/tables
 tree/trees
 girl/girls
Sometimes, adding “-es” creates the inflection to make a plural noun.

Examples singular/plural with “-es:”

 fox/foxes
 wish/wishes
 potato/potatoes
 bus/buses
Sometimes, the ending is dropped to add “-ies” to make a plural noun. This
occurs when the last letter of the base singular form is a “y.”

Examples singular/plural with “-ies”

 city/cities
 berry/berries
 fairy/fairies
 daisy/daisies
Sometimes, the inflection is irregular to make a plural noun.

Examples for singular/plural irregular plurals:

 sheep/sheep
 mouse/mice
 moose/moose
 criterion/criteria
 analysis/analyses
Inflection for Tense (Verbs)
In verbs, inflection occurs to show changes in verb tense.
Present Tense
 For the present tense, an “-
s” or “-es” is added to the base form of the regular verb in the third-person
singular to show inflection.
Example with “to dream:”

I dream.
You dream. (singular/plural)
He/she/it dreams.
We dream.
They dream.
Example with “to do:”

 I do.
 You do. (singular/plural)
 He/she/it does.
 We do.
 They do.
Past Tense

For the past tense, an “-d” or

“-ed” is added to the base form of the regular verb in order to show inflection
Example with “to breathe:”

I breathed.
You breathed. (singular/plural)
He/she/it breathed.
We breathed.
They breathed.
Example with “to jump:”

 I jumped.
 You jumped. (singular/plural)
  He/she/it jumped.
 We jumped.
 They jumped.
Future Tense
For future tense, the base form of the verb does not change, but the word will is
included.
Example with “to eat:”

 I will eat.
 You will eat. (singular/plural)
 He/she/it will eat.
 We will eat.
 They will eat.
Irregular Verbs

Irregular verbs have various

changes in tenses for inflection. There is no set pattern. However, here are a
couple examples.

With “to go” past tense:

 I went.
 You went. (singular/plural)
 He/She/It went.
 We went.
 They went.
With “to be” present tense:

 I am.
 You are. (singular/plural)
 He/She/It is.
 We are.
 They are.
Inflection for Comparison (Adjectives)
 Adjectives change for
inflection to show differences in comparative and superlative forms.

To compare, an “-er” ending is added to adjectives (or the word may change
altogether as with “good”).

Comparative examples:
 Base adjective: good
 Comparative adjective: better
 Base adjective: small
 Comparative adjective: smaller
 Base adjective: high
 Comparative adjective: higher
For superlative forms, an “-est” is added to adjectives (or the word may change
altogether as with “good”).

Superlative examples:
 Base adjective: good
 Superlative adjective: best
 Base adjective: small
 Superlative adjective: smallest
 Base adjective: high
 Superlative adjective: highest

Summary: What is Inflection in English?

Define inflection: the definition of inflection is the way in which words alter their
endings to show case, number, gender, etc.
In summary, an inflection:

 is a change in the base form of a word

 affects nouns, adjectives, and verbs
shows different grammatical meaning of words

What are copular verbs?

NOVEMBER 15, 2010 -
A copular verb is a special kind of verb used to join an adjective or noun complement to a
subject. Common examples are: be (is, am, are, was, were), appear, seem, look, sound,
smell, taste, feel, become and get.

A copular verb expresses either that the subject and its complement denote the same
thing or that the subject has the property denoted by its complement.

For example in the sentence ‘Peter is my boyfriend’ the copular verb is asserts that Peter
and my boyfriend are the same person whereas in the sentence ‘Peter is British’ the
copular verb is assigns the quality of Britishness to Peter.

More examples are given below.

 Honey is sweet. (Here the copular verb is assigns the quality of sweetness to honey.)
 The stew smells good.
 The milk turned sour.
 The night grew dark.
 She became a writer.

After copular verbs we use adjectives, not adverbs.

Compare:

 She spoke intelligently. (Here the adverb intelligently modifies the ordinary verb spoke.)
 She appears intelligent. (NOT She appears intelligently. Appears is a copular verb. It should
be followed by an adjective, not an adverb.)

The copular verbs like become, get, grow, go, turn, stay, remain, keep etc., are used to talk
about change or the absence of change.

 I am becoming older.
 I am getting older.
 I am growing older.
 The leaves are going yellow.
 The leaves are turning yellow.
 What Is the Oxford Comma and Why
Do People Care So Much About It?
WRITIN G

The Oxford (or serial) comma is the final comma in a list of things. For example:

Please bring me a pencil, eraser, and notebook.

The Oxford comma comes right after eraser.

Use of the Oxford comma is stylistic, meaning that some style guides demand its use
while others don’t. AP Style—the style guide that newspaper reporters adhere to—
does not require the use of the Oxford comma. The sentence above written in AP style
would look like this:

Please bring me a pencil, eraser and notebook.

Here’s a tip: Commas can be tricky, but they don’t have to trip you up. Grammarly’s writing
assistant can help you make sure your punctuation, spelling, and grammar are tip-top on all your
favorite websites.

Your writing, at its best.

Be the best writer in the office.
GE T GR AM M ARLY

Unless you’re writing for a particular publication or drafting an essay for school,
whether or not you use the Oxford comma is generally up to you. However, omitting
it can sometimes cause some strange misunderstandings.

I love my parents, Lady Gaga and Humpty Dumpty.

 Without the Oxford comma, the sentence above could be interpreted as stating that
you love your parents, and your parents are Lady Gaga and Humpty Dumpty. Here’s
the same sentence with the Oxford comma:

I love my parents, Lady Gaga, and Humpty Dumpty.

Those who oppose the Oxford comma argue that rephrasing an already unclear
sentence can solve the same problems that using the Oxford comma does. For
example:
I love my parents, Lady Gaga and Humpty Dumpty.

could be rewritten as:

I love Lady Gaga, Humpty Dumpty and my parents.

Definition, Types and Examples of

Aspect in English Grammar
30TH MAY 2018JAMES BOANER GRAMMAR

Thank you for joining me on another educative post titled: Definition, Types and
Examples of Aspect in English Grammar. Welcome to another time of learning. In
my post on Tense in English Grammar, I did say that the form of the verb we use to
indicate present happenings is different from the form of the same verb we use when
making reference to past time. I believe you still remember. Great! (You might want to
take a quick dash there if you cannot remember, as there is nothing great about being
forgetful). Okay! But that is not all.

Table of Contents:
 Introduction
 Definition, Types and Examples of Aspect in English Grammar
 What is Aspect in English?
 Types of Aspects in English
 The Perfective Aspect
o Examples of Present Perfective Aspect
o Examples of Past Perfective Aspect
 The Progressive Aspect
o Examples of Present Progressive Aspect
 o Examples of Past Progressive Aspect
 Co-occurrence of the Perfective/Progressive Aspects
o Present Tense, Progressive Aspect, Perfective
o Past Tense, Progressive Aspect, Perfective
 Conjugation of the Verb BREAK
 Markers of Modality Showing Future and Conditionality
o Present Perfective Progressive, Future Time
o Past Perfective Progressive, future time, impossible condition
 A Quick Word

Introduction
I did not tell you about the form of the verb we use when making reference to a state
or an action that has begun and is still in progress. I also did not hint on the form of the
verb we use in referring to an action that has long been completed before an action
that was just completed. Was I hoarding information? Of course not! The reason I did
not go into all that was because the English Tense cannot sufficiently cater for that
domain of knowledge.

Definition, Types and Examples of Aspect in English

Grammar
There is another interesting grammatical concept that can adequately explain describe
the forms of the verbs we use to indicate the completion or progress of an action and
that is what I want to discuss with you. We refer to this grammatical concept as Aspect.
It is one of the systems in English that occur at the clausal level. Are we good to go?
Good! Let’s dive in.

What is Aspect in English?

Aspects relate to a verb form that shows whether an action, activity or a state is
complete or continuing over a period of time. Aspect deals with the placement of an
action with regards to time and not necessarily the actual time the action occurs, unlike
tense. It is all about the complement of an action that the verbal group describes. Note
that the verbal group that can indicate tense, aspect, agreement and mood
is finite in nature; and the first element in the verbal group selects for tense (usually
the non-modal and modal auxiliaries) while the main verb selects for aspect.

Types of Aspects in English

Just like tense, there are two (2) types of aspects in English. These are:
1. The Perfective Aspect
2. The Progressive Aspect

Let us examine each of the types in detail.

The Perfective Aspect

This type deals with the verbal groups which have the forms of ‘have + verb (past
participle); that is, have/has/has plus the perfective form of the verb. In other words,
Perfective Aspect is always indicated by HAVE +LEXICAL VERB +-ED/-EN. Under the
perfective aspect, we have two sub-types:

 The present perfective aspect (has/have + verb (past participle) and

 The past perfective aspect (had + verb (past participle).

Examples of Present Perfective Aspect

We can see the present perfective as the present tense + perfective aspect. Consider
these examples:

 The boy has eaten his food.

 John and Joe have eaten the food.
 I have given him the letter.
 We have submitted the forms.
 She has seen the teacher
 It has disappeared.
 I have eaten breakfast.
 They have broken the curfew
 He has mended his shoes.

Sometimes, we can add modal auxiliaries. In this case, we have present modal
perfective E. g.

 They may have arrived.

 He could have travelled.
 She must have gone by now.

Examples of Past Perfective Aspect

We can see the past perfective as the past tense + perfective aspect. Consider the
following illustrations:

 Peter had eaten his food.

 Jill and Scott had gone.
 I had collected the key before he left.
 We had submitted the forms earlier.
 She had seen the principal.
 The pen had disappeared.
 I had eaten breakfast.
 They had broken the curfew
 He had mended his shoes.

Let us examine the other main type…

The Progressive Aspect

This type deals with the verbal groups which comprise forms of the ‘be-verb’ +
progressive form of the verb; that is, be, am, is, was, are, were, been, being plus the
progressive form of the verb. Under the progressive aspect, we have two sub-types:

 The present progressive aspect (am/is/are + verb (progressive) and

 The past progressive aspect (was/were + verb (past participle).

Examples of Present Progressive Aspect

We can illustrate this with the following sentences:

 I am typing.
 He is writing.
 She is washing.
 They are hunting.

Note again the possibility of adding modal auxiliary e.g.

 He may be driving.
 She might be sleeping.
 They could be coming.

Examples of Past Progressive Aspect

Consider these examples:

 I was typing.
 He was writing.
 She was washing.
 They were hunting.
Co-occurrence of the Perfective/Progressive
Aspects
Just like in the case of morphemes where both the derivational morpheme and
the inflectional morpheme, though distinct, can co-occur in a sentence; so also, both
the perfective and the progressive aspects can coexist in a sentence. But when this
happens, the progressive aspect always comes last. It is not possible for the perfective
aspect to come after its progressive counterpart. Both the modal and non-modal
or primary auxiliary come handy in this situation. Let us illustrate this point with
some sentences:

Present Tense, Progressive Aspect, Perfective

This can also be rendered as Present, Progressive-Perfective. E. g.

 The children have been crying all day.

 He has been dreaming of travelling abroad.
 She has been dying to meet the singer.
 We have been coming a long way.
 The plane has been hovering since morning.
 I have been eating breakfast.
 He has been mending shoes.
 They have been breaking the curfew.

Past Tense, Progressive Aspect, Perfective

We can also have this as Past, Progressive-Perfective. E. g.

 The police had been marching since.

 I had been writing with a special pen.
 The ship had been sailing on the high seas.
 They had been competing since their school days.
 She had been singing for five years.
 I had been eating breakfast.
 He had been mending shoes.
 They had been breaking the curfew.

Conjugation of the Verb BREAK

With all we have explained above, let us conjugate the verb Break for more clarity in
demonstrating the issue of tense and aspect:

 Present Simple: He breaks the law.

 Past Simple: He broke the law.
 Present Progressive: He is breaking the law.
 Past Progressive: He was breaking the law.
 Present Perfective: He has broken the law.
 Past Perfective: He had broken the law.
 Present Perfective Progressive: He has been breaking the law.
 Past Perfective Progressive: He had been breaking the law.

Markers of Modality Showing Future and

Conditionality
Present Perfective Progressive, Future Time

 (If he is arrested today,) He will have been breaking the law (for six months).

Past Perfective Progressive, future time, impossible condition

 (If he were to be arrested today,) He would have been breaking the law (for six months).

A Quick Word
Let me leave you with this thought as I round off on Aspect in English. Tense and
aspect are not the same but they are closely related. It is possible to have tense
without aspect but there can be no aspect without tense! Never forget that!

Don’t forget to leave your comments. Check out some other posts and share with your
friends. I’m off to work on another post! See you soon! Bye!
Figures of speech
Schemes and Tropes
Schemes and tropes are figures of speech, having to do with using language in an
unusual or “figured” way:

Trope: An artful deviation from the ordinary or principal signification of a word. A

trope uses a word in an unusual or unexpected way.
Scheme: An artful deviation from the ordinary arrangement of words. A scheme is a
creative alteration in the usual order of words.

Examples
“I work like a slave” [trope: simile]
“I don’t know if I’m working my job or my job, me”
[schemes: antimetabole, ellipsis, personification]

Kinds of Tropes
Trope: An artful deviation from the ordinary or principal signification of a
word.
Reference to One Thing as Another
 Metaphor Reference to one thing as another, implying a comparison.
 Simile Explicit comparison of one thing to another.
 Synecdoche A whole is represented by naming one of its parts.
 Metonymy Reference to something or someone by naming one of its attributes.
 Personification Reference to abstractions or inanimate objects as though they had human
qualities or abilities.
Wordplay and puns
 Antanaclasis Repetition of a word in two different senses.
 Paronomasia Using words that sound alike but that differ in meaning (punning).
 Syllepsis Using a word differently in relation to two or more words that it modifies or
governs (sometimes called zeugma).
 Onomatopoeia Use of words whose sound correspond with their semantic value.
Substitutions
 Anthimeria Substitution of one part of speech for another.
 Periphrasis Substitution of a descriptive word or phrase for a proper name or of a proper
name for a quality associated with the name.
Overstatement/Understatement
 Hyperbole Use of exaggerated terms for emphasis or effect.
 Auxesis Reference to something with a name disproportionately greater than its nature (a
kind of hyberbole).
 Litotes Understatement used deliberately.
 Meiosis Reference to something with a name disproportionately lesser than its nature (a
kind of litotes).
Semantic Inversions
 Rhetorical Question Asking a question for a purpose other than obtaining the
information requested.
 Irony Using language in such a way as to convey a meaning opposite of what the terms used
denote (often by exaggeration).
 Oxymoron Placing two ordinarily opposing terms adjacent to one another. A compressed
paradox.
 Paradox An apparently contradictory statement that contains a measure of truth.

Kinds of Schemes
Scheme: An artful deviation from the ordinary arrangement of words.
Structures of Balance
 Parallelism Similarity of structure in a pair or series of related words, phrases, or clauses.
 Isocolon A series of similarly structured elements having the same length.
 Tricolon Three parallel elements of the same length occurring together.
 Antithesis Juxtaposition of contrasting ideas (often in parallel structure).
 Climax Generally, the arrangement of words, phrases, or clauses in an order of increasing
importance, often in parallel structure.
Change in Word Order
 Anastrophe Inversion of natural word order.
 Parenthesis Insertion of a verbal unit that interrupts normal syntactical flow.
 Apposition Addition of an adjacent, coordinate, explanatory element.
Omission
 Ellipsis Omission of a word or words readily implied by context.
 Asyndeton Omission of conjunctions between a series of clauses.
 Brachylogia Omission of conjunctions between a series of words.
 (Polysyndeton) Opposite of asyndeton, a superabundance of conjunctions
Repetition
 Alliteration Repetition of initial or medial consonants in two or more adjacent words.
 Assonance Repetition of similar vowel sounds, preceded and followed by different
consonants, in the stressed syllables of adjacent words.
 Polyptoton Repetition of words derived from the same root.
 Antanaclasis Repetition of a word in two different senses.
 Anaphora Repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of successive
clauses.
 Epistrophe Repetition of the same word or group of words at the ends of successive
clauses.
 Epanalepsis Repetition at the end of a clause of the word that occurred at the beginning of
the clause.
 Anadiplosis Repetition of the last word of one clause at the beginning of the following
clause.
 Climax Repetition of the scheme anadiplosis at least three times, with the elements
arranged in an order of increasing importance.
 Antimetabole Repetition of words, in successive clauses, in reverse grammatical order.
(Sometimes mistaken as chiasmus)
 Chiasmus Repetition of grammatical structures in reverse order in successive phrases or
clauses (not to be mistaken with antimetabole).