Parts of SpeechAdjectives , Adverbs, Prepositions &

Interjections.

Adjectives

An adjective is a word that modifies a noun or pronoun by limiting its meaning. E.g. three dollars, any objections, baby ducks, Chinese teacup, purple balloon, no parking.

Any adjective may describe a noun or pronoun by answering one of these questions:

What kind? Blue scarf Artistic license

Which one? That attitude Second try

How many? Thirty pages Several improvements

How much? Any trouble No mayonnaise

Two verbs can also act as adjectives: the present participle, which ends in ‘-ing’, and the past participle, which ends in ‘-ed’ or is irregularly formed.

E.g. a dancing hen the crumpled paper a broken dish

Pronouns as Adjectives

Pronouns can also serve as adjectives. For example, possessive pronouns (my, our, your, his, her, its, and their) act as adjectives when they modify nouns.

Demonstrative pronouns (this, that, these, and those) can also be considered demonstrative adjectives when they modify nouns.

Pronouns as Adjectives (Cont.)

Nouns can also serve as adjectives. Possessive nouns, like possessive pronouns, can be used as adjectives. In fact, any noun that modifies another noun can be considered an adjective.

E.g. My kitten. (possessive adjective) Those bicycles (demonstrative adj.) Lucy’s report (possessive noun acting as

adj.) Leather shoes (noun acting as adjective)

Write each adj. and the word it modifies.

1. The apple pie is delicious.2. Several large trees fell in the storm.3. Strong winds radiate from the eye of a

hurricane.4. His left arm is in a cast.5. I seldom wear my dress shoes.6. Quiet music is soothing to babies.7. Fifty years is a short time in history.

Adjectives that Compare

Many adjectives have different forms to indicate their degree of comparison. The positive form indicates no comparison. The comparative form compares two nouns or pronouns. The superlative form compares more than two nouns or pronouns.

Adjectives that Compare

POSITIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE

Slow Slower Slowest

Lucky Luckier Luckiest

Strenuous More strenuous Most strenuous

Good, well Better Best

Bad Worse worst

Write the correct comparative or superlative form of the adjective in parentheses.

1. This is the (good) choice of the two.2. I am (tall) than my brother.3. Of the three athletes, Hal is (good).4. That is the (complicated) math problem

I have ever tackled.5. The seniors voted Manuel (likely) to

succeed.6. This work is (difficult) than I had

originally thought it was.

Articles

The most frequently used adjectives are a, an and the. These words are usually called articles.

A and an are indefinite articles. They indicate that a noun refers to one of a general group. A is used before words beginning with a consonant sound; an is used before words beginning with a vowel sound. An is also used before words beginning with the consonant h when the h is not pronounced.

Examples

A ranger helped us. They planted an acre of corn. We kept watch for an hour.

Articles Cont.

The is the definite article. It indicates that a noun refers to someone or something in particular.

Examples1. The ranger helped us.2. The hour dragged by.3. They planted the acre with corn.

Proper Adjectives

A proper adjective is formed from a proper noun and begins with a capital letter.

E.g. We attended the Shakespearean Drama Festival.

The Texan barbeque was a success. The Victorian Era in England lasted

from 1837 to 1901.

Suffixes and Adjectives

The following suffixes, along with others, are often used to form proper adjectives: -an, -ian, -n, -ese, and –ish. Sometimes there are other changes as well.

PROPER NOUNS PROPER ADJECTIVES

Jamaica Jamaicans

China Chinese

England English

Africa African

Bahamas Bahamian

Adverbs

An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb by making its meaning more specific.

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The following sentences will Illustrate the use of adverbs to modify verbs, adjectives and adverbs.

MODIFYING VERBS • She ran quickly.• She has often won.

MODIFYING ADJECTIVES • She is very talented and extremely diligent.

MODIFYING ADVERBS • She almost always runs quite fast.

Adverbs tell when, where, how and to what degree.

WHEN I got your letter yesterday.

WHERE The wagon train headed west.

HOW Play this section softly and sweetly.

TO WHAT DEGREE This railing is dangerously rickety.

Position of Adverbs

An adverb that is modifying a verb can sometimes be placed in different positions in relation to the verb.

An adverb that modifies an adjective or another adverb, however, must immediately precede the word it modifies.

Position of Adverbs Cont.

MODIFYING A VERB Generally we eat at six.

We generally eat at six.

We eat at six generally.

MODIFYING AN ADJECTIVE The soup was definitely lukewarm.

MODIFYING AN ADVERB We almost never have dessert.

Negative Words as Adjectives

The word not and the contraction n’t are adverbs. Certain adverbs of time, place and degree also have negative meanings.

The colour didn’t fade. That dye hardly ever fades. If correctly set, this dye never fades. The tints can barely be distinguished. There are no undyed patches. We cannot complain about the colour.

Write each adverb and what it modifies. Then tell whether what is a modified is a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.

1. Soraya often shops at outlet stores.2. I am thoroughly disgusted.3. Seldom can I select a good watermelon.4. Please set the table properly.5. A rather brisk wind is blowing.6. The air conditioner is barely working.7. In the spring, the grass grows too fast.8. Dan is an unusually good driver.

Adverbs that Compare Some adverbs, like adjectives, have

different forms to indicate the degree of comparison.

POSITIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE

Sat near Sat nearer Sat nearest

Talks slowly Talks more slowly

Talks most slowly

Dances well Dances better Dances best

Writes badly Writes worse Writes worst

Draws beautifully

Draws more beautifully

Draws most beautifully

Looks far Looks farther Looks farthest

Write the comparative and superlative forms of each adverb.

Fast recently Carelessly delicately Early poorly Frequently low High Deeply high

Prepositions

A preposition is a word that shows the relationship of a noun or a pronoun to another word in a sentence.

E.g. The mother of the kittens lives here. (Of shows the relationship of the mother to the kittens.)

I will see you after lunch. (After expresses the time relationship between lunch and when I will see you.)

Commonly Used Prepositions

Aboard Beneath In Regarding

About Beside Inside Respecting

Above Besides Into Since

Across Between Like Through

After Beyond Near Throughout

Against But Of To

Along By Off Toward

Amid Concerning On under

Compound Preposition

A compound preposition is a preposition that is made up of more than one word.

According to Because of Instead of

Ahead of By means of Next to

Along with Except for On account of

Apart from In addition to On top of

Aside from In front of Out of

As to In spite of Owing to

Prepositional Phrase

A prepositional phrase is a group of words that begins with a preposition and ends with a noun or a pronoun called the object of the preposition.

Jorge and Mei Ling went to the fair. Cesar rode along with them. Cesar satisfied his sweet tooth with

saltwater taffy.

Some words may be used as either prepositions or adverbs. A word is used as a preposition if it has a noun or a pronoun as its object. A word is used as an adverb if it does not have an object.

WORD USED AS PREPOSITION

WORD USED AS ADVERB

I left my boots outside the back door.

I left my boots outside.

The bird flew over the fence.

The bird flew over.

Everyone came aboard the boat.

Everyone came aboard.

Write each prepositional phrase. Underline the preposition and draw a circle around the object of the preposition.

1. The diameter of a circle extends from one side to the other.

2. During my study period, I consulted the adviser about my schedule.

3. On the outskirts of town are several parks.

4. In spite of the heat, band practice continued through the afternoon and into the evening.

Conjunctions

A conjunction is a word that joins single words or groups of words.

A coordinating conjunction joins words or groups of words that have equal grammatical weight in a sentence.

And But Or So Nor For yet

COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS

EXAMPLES

Their skirt includes a rabbit and a bird. Ms. Fernandez dresses fashionably but

tastefully. Winter days are short, so houseplants

may need extra light. We didn’t stop to ask directions, nor did

we even consult a map.

Correlative Conjunctions

Correlative conjunctions work in pairs to join words and groups of words of equal grammatical weight in a sentence.

Both… and Just as… so Not only… but (also)

Either… or Neither… nor Whether… or

Correlative Conjunctions Cont.

Correlative conjunctions make the relationship between words or groups of words a little clearer than do coordinating conjunctions.

COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS

CORRELATIVE CONJUNCTIONS

Kim and I must test the software.

Both Kim and I must test the software.

You or Jose can make the call. Either you or Jose can make the call.

He spray painted the security camera and robbed the bank.

He not only spray painted the security camera but also robbed the bank.

Write all conjunctions. Then identify them as either coordinating or correlative.

Do you want the apple or the pear? Neither the attorney nor the client

wanted to appeal the case. I’ll serve your eggs either scrambled or

poached? The bride’s family hired a caterer to

prepare the food and serve it.

Subordinating Conjunction

A subordinating conjunction joins two clauses, or thoughts, in a such a way as to make one grammatically dependent on the other.

The though or clause that a subordinating conjunctionm introduces is said to be subordinate, or dependent, because it cannot stand by itself as a complete sentence.

Examples of Subordinating Conjunctions

Since you learned to dance, you have become more graceful.

Whenever I skate, I wear elbow and knee pads.

The children may come along provided that they stay with us.

We sat by the lake while the sun set.

Conjunctive Adverbs

A conjunctive adverb is used to clarify the relationship between clauses of equal grammatical weight in a sentence.

Conjunctive adverbs are usually stronger, more precise, and more formal than coordinating conjunctions.

Coordinating Adverbs Cont.

Notice that when a coordinating conjunction is used between clauses, a comma preceded the coordinating conjunction.

When a conjunctive adverb is used between clauses, a semicolon preceded the conjunctive adverb, and comma follows it.

ExamplesCOORDINATING CONJUNCTION I don’t mind bright green

kitchen walls myself, but shouldn’t we ask your mother?

COORDINATING ADVERBS I don’t mind bright green kitchen walls myself; still, shouldn’t we ask your mother?

To replace AND Also, besides, furthermore, morever

To replace BUT However, nevertheless, nonetheless, still

To state a result Accordingly, consequently, then, therefore, thus

To state equality Equally, likewise, similarly

Conjunctive Adverbs have many uses, as the following examples show.

Rewrite each sentence, changing coordinating conjunctions to conjunctive adverbs.

My older sister lives in Germany, but she visits us every spring.

Hillary is a sports enthusiast, so she often attends football games.

Joseph is a talented musician: He plays the piano, and he composes music for school plays.

Our French teacher is strict, but he is always fair.

Interjections

An interjection is a word or a phrase that expresses emotion or exclamation. An interjection has no grammatical connection to other words in the sentence and is set off from the other words by an exclamation or a comma.

Examples of interjections

Different emotions are expressed by different interjections.

SURPRISE Oh, my! I had no idea.

DELIGHT Ah, that’s good.

CONFUSION Good grief! Is that true?

PAIN Ouch! That hurts.

JOY Wow! This is super!