Parts of Speech- Nouns

Naming words

Common nouns
Abstract nouns
• names given to ordinary objects
• Something we cannot see, touch or measure
• ‘the’, ‘a’ or ‘an’ before them (a book; the
• Often a feeling/emotion
teacher; an oven)
• E.g. love, respect, jealousy, kindness,
• No capital letters (unless start of a sentence)
friendship,
• Has gender: masculine (waiter), feminine
• E.g. courage, practice, attitude,
(waitress), common (teacher), neutral (pen)
concentration, imagination, diligence, faith,
motivation, sincerity, wisdom

Collective nouns Proper nouns

• Collection or group of objects, people or • Names a specific person (William), place
animals (California) or thing (Eiffel Tower)
• Examples: • Also days of the week (Friday), months of
• A gang of thieves the year (August) and holidays (Christmas
• A bevy of beauties Day, Human Rights Day)
• A cloud of smoke • Always begin with a capital letter
• A punnet of strawberries • Some contain more than one word (Table
Mountain)
Compound nouns • Subjects studied (English, Zulu,
Gerunds
• Two (or more) Geography)
• Also known as verbal nouns
common nouns • Titles of books/films/songs/plays (Oliver
• Usually end in -ing
together Twist, The Hunger Games, The Greatest,
• Verb used as a noun:
• Basketball, Romeo and Juliet)
• Swimming is good
redhead, make-up, • Street names (John Vorster Drive, Main
exercise
six-pack, five-year- Road)
• Driving is therapeutic
old
 Parts of Speech- Pronouns
Takes the place of a noun

• Used to avoid repetition (Daniel is Reflexive pronouns

going to visit Daniel’s family this • Reflect back to the noun or pronoun
weekend ./ Daniel is going to visit his • Myself, yourself, himself, herself,
family this weekend). itself, ourselves, yourselves,
• Change depending on usage as a themselves
subject or object (She likes to boss • E.g. He blamed himself for the
people around, but doesn’t enjoy accident.
people teasing her.)
Interrogative pronouns Demonstrative pronouns
• Ask questions (?) • Points out a specific
Personal pronouns • Who, whose, to person or thing
• refer to people or things whom, which, what • This, these, that, those
• As subjects (I, you, he, she, it, we, • E.g. Whose bag is • E.g. I want to go to that
they) this? shop.
• He is walking the dog.
• As direct or indirect objects (me, you,
him, her, it, us, them) Relative pronouns
• They sold the chair to him. Indefinite pronouns • Function of a
• Refer to people/things conjunction (join
generally sentences together)
Possessive pronouns • Anyone, anywhere, • Who, whom , whose
• Indicate ownership everyone, everywhere, (refer to people)
• Mine, yours, his, hers, ours, yours, anybody, something, • That, which, what
theirs somewhere, someone (refer to animals or
• E.g. This car was hers but now it is • E.g. Everyone is things)
mine. welcome to watch. • The lady who is
eating is my aunt.
 Parts of Speech- Adjectives
Describes (qualifies) Nouns and Pronouns

Position of adjectives in sentences:

~ before a noun (The diligent student received an award.) ~ after a linking verb (The student is diligent.)

Descriptive adjectives:
Demonstrative adjectives:
• Most common
• Which one?
• The old/ young/ creative/ naughty
• E.g. this, that, these, those
boy.

Proper adjectives:
Possessive adjectives:
• Proper nouns used as adjectives
• Belonging to?
• The Italian restaurant serves
Degrees of • E.g. my, his, her, our, their, your, its
excellent food. comparison:

Comparative (add
–er OR more)
Adjectives of number/quantity: E.g. thin- thinner, Interrogative adjectives:
beautiful – more
• How many? beautiful
• Which one?
• E.g. few, many, three, most, every • E.g. which, what, whose
Superlative (add
–est OR most)
E.g. large –
largest, painful – Compound adjectives:
Adjectives of order: most painful • Joined by hyphens
• Position?
• E.g. well-deserved, well-known, half-
• E.g. first, fourth, last
ripe
 Parts of Speech- Verbs Is it a verb?
Ask: Can you …? E.g. Can you drive?
Doing or Action words Place a pronoun in front of it: We drive…

Simple Tense Continuous Tense Perfect Tense Finite verbs:

Present I sing. I am singing. I have sung. • Can stand on their own;
don’t need an auxiliary
Past I sang. I was singing. I had sung. verb
• Has a subject, number and
Future I shall sing. I shall be singing. I shall have sung.
tense
• E.g.
Present Tense Past Tense Future Tense • He walked to school.
• Subject = he
1st person I am tired. I was tired. I shall be tired.
• Number = singular
(singular)
• Tense = past tense
1st person We are tired. We were tired. We shall be tired.
(plural) Infinitive:
2nd person You are tired. You were tired. You will be tired. • Verb preceded by ‘to’
(singular & • to talk; to learn
plural) • Cannot stand alone; must
He/she/it is tired. He/she/it was tired. He/she/it will be tired.
have a finite verb
3rd person
(singular) • He wants to talk.
• She loves to learn.
3rd person They are tired. They were tired. They will be tired.
(plural)
Auxiliary verbs:
Transitive verbs: Mood of the verb: • Helping verbs
• Has direct object • Indicative (express fact/ information)
• I drove a car today. • Imperative (express instruction/
• E.g. am, are, be, can, could,
Intransitive verbs: command) had, has, have, is, may,
• No direct object • Subjunctive (express a wish/ doubt/ might, must, shall, should,
• I drove to work today. insecurity) was, were, will, would
 Parts of Speech- Verbs
…continued… Gerunds:
• words ending in –ing
• Also known as verbal nouns
Participles: • Usually indicated by ‘of’
• Formed when you combine an auxiliary verb • E.g. The crying of the child alarmed us.
and a finite verb (+ -ing or –ed)
• Present participles usually end in –ing
• He is laughing.
• She was concentrating
• Past participles usually end in –ed, -d, -en or –n
Concord/ Agreement:
• He had laughed.
• The subject and verb
• She had concentrated.
must agree in number
(singular/plural) and
person
Active and Passive Voice:
• Active voice = subject does the action • My brother and sister
• Passive voice = subject has the action done to it is coming to visit. x
• See the table below: • My brother and sister
are coming to visit. √

Active Voice Passive Voice • He have just arrived.x

• He has just arrived. √
Subject Verb Object Subject Verb Object

• I is going. x
Present The girl bakes the cake. The cake is baked by the girl.
• I was going. √
Past The girl baked the cake. The cake was baked by the girl.

Future The girl will bake the cake. The cake will be baked by the girl.
 Parts of Speech- Adverbs
Modify (tell us more about) verbs
Interjections (!)
Adverb of Time: • Words that express
Adverb of Manner:
• When? an emotion or
• How?
• Yesterday, tomorrow, last sentiment on the part
• Quietly, carefully, patiently,
year, the other day, next of the speaker.
softly, politely, quickly
month • They are sometimes
• E.g. She spoke politely to
• E.g. Last year I ran a expressed as a single
the teacher.
marathon. word or non-sentence
phrase, followed by a
Adverb of Degree: punctuation mark -
Adverb of Place:
• To what extent? usually an
• Where?
• Very, quite, so, almost, exclamation mark.
• Here, there, nowhere, up,
hardly, extremely, really, too • E.g. Wow! Oh my!
down, home, far, near
• E.g. She swam really well Phew! Oh dear!
• E.g. You are going nowhere.
yesterday. Cheers!

Adverb of Frequency: Adverb of Probability:

• How often? • What are the chances?
• Always, never, often, • Certainly, definitely, maybe,
seldom, usually, once, perhaps, possibly
sometimes • E.g. She will definitely win
• E.g. I always brush my hair. the race.

Adverbial Phrases:
• More than one word used to modify the verb
• E.g. She was playing in the garden. (adverb of place: where?)
The boy’s show started at ten o’clock.(adverb of time: when?)
 Parts of Speech- Parts of Speech-
Prepositions Conjunctions
Relate two words or phrases to one another Connecting words that join two or more
(position) sentences

Uses: Co-ordinating conjunctions:

• Show relationship of one thing to another • Join two words or ideas of equal weight
(The plate is on the table.) • You can go to the mall or to the golf course.
• Usually precede nouns, pronouns, articles • The computer was fixed but it still gave
or gerunds (I went with him/John/the boy.) issues.
• Often confused with adverbs of time The
puppy was stuck outside the yard. – Subordinating conjunctions:
preposition • Join a main clause to a subordinate clause
They put the puppy outside. – adverb • They played a round of golf although a
• Can be used figuratively (He is a man after storm was brewing.
my own heart.) • You may not go to Kruger Park unless you
• Phrases may contain more than one take anti-malaria tablets.
preposition (I am writing on behalf of my
husband.) Relative pronouns as conjunctions:
• Avoid ending a sentence with a preposition • Who/ whom/ whose (The lady whose
What are you looking at? x handbag was stolen could not pay for her
At what are you looking? √ meal.)
• That and which (Marley is the dog that was
Examples: in the movie on TV last night.)
aboard, about, above, across, against, alongside,
among, around, before, behind, below, beneath,
Examples:
beside, between, beyond, by, down, except, for,
and, although, but, because, for, however, if, so,
from, in, into, of, off, on, on to, over, past, since, to,
then, though, unless, until, when, whether, while,
towards, through, under, up, with, within
yet