Grammar: Part I: Academic Studies English

ACADEMIC STUDIES
ENGLISH
Support Materials and Exercises

for
GRAMMAR: PART I
Parts of Speech
FALL 1998
PARTS OF SPEECH
ACADEMIC ENGLISH
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The following persons have contributed to the development of this learning material:
Content and Structure:
Curriculum Developer(s)
Leslie Childs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . English Curriculum Content Expert

New Brunswick Community College . . . . . . . . . . Bathurst
Project Supervision/Co-ordination:
Angela Acott-Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . Project Co-ordinator

New Brunswick Community College . . . . . . . Woodstock
Kay Curtis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Literacy Co-ordinator

New Brunswick Community College . . . . . . . Woodstock
This document is available full-text on the World Wide Web thanks to

the National Adult Literacy Database.
http://www.nald.ca/CLR/search/
The financial support for this learning materials project was provided by
the National Literacy Secretariat of Human Resources Development Canada.
Fall 1998
This support module may be used with BAU-ENG 6.5,Parts of Speech, and IAU-
ENG 2.1 Parts of Speech.
BAU-ENG 6.5 PARTS OF SPEECH
OBJECTIVE
Upon successful completion of this unit, the learner will be able to
1. identify the eight parts of speech in simple sentences.
2. explain the function of each part of speech.
TEACHING POINTS Level

Noun 1 common and proper 3/4
2 singular and plural 3/4
3 possessive nouns (with ‘s) 3/4
4 used to name people, places, things 3/4
Pronoun 5 personal, indefinite, interrogative 3/4
6 use to replace nouns 3/4
Verb 7 identify verbs and verb phrases (e.g. walk, walks, walked, 3/4
8 is walking, has walked, has been walking, etc .) 3/4
9 singular and plural forms of “to be” (present, past, future) 3/4
10 singular and plural forms of “to have” (present, past, future) 3/4
11 use of basic verb tenses (past, present, future) 3/4
12 principal parts of common irregular verbs 3/4
13 uses to express action and state of being 3/4
Adjective 14 used to describe nouns and pronouns 3/4
15 comparison of adjectives 5/6
16 use of “er” ending to compare two things 5/6
17 use of “est” ending to compare two or more things 5/6
18 use of “more” and “most” with longer adjectives 5/6
19 comparison of irregular adjectives e.g. good, better, best 5/6
Adverb 20 used to describe verbs: where, why, when, how, how much 3/4
21 usually end in “ly” 3/4
22 comparison of adverbs: e.g. quickly, more quickly, most 5/6
quickly
Preposition 23 used to show space and time relationship between nouns 5/6
Conjunction 24 used to join complete thoughts 5/6
Interjection 25 used to express surprise, horror, or other strong emotions 3/4
Learners should be encouraged to use their own writing as well as traditional exercises to
identify parts of speech.
IAU-ENG 2.1 PARTS OF SPEECH
OBJECTIVES
Upon successful completion of this unit, the learner will be able to
1. identify the eight parts of speech in written and oral communications..
2. describe the function of each part of speech.
TEACHING POINTS Lev

el
Nouns 1 Types: common & proper 7

(naming) 2 concrete & abstract 7
3 singular & plural 7
4 possessive (with boy’s, boys’ and Charles’ 7
Pronoun 5 Types: personal (gender, number, person, case) 7
(naming) 6 interrogative, indefinite 7
7 reflexive, reciprocal, demonstrative, emphatic 8
8 relative 8/9
Verb 9 Type: action & linking 7
(stating: 10 helping (auxiliary) & main = verb phrase 7
action/existence)
11 active & passive voice 9
12 Principal parts: regular & irregular 7
13 Tense: simple (past, present, future) 7
14 perfect (past, present, future) 7
15 progressive (past, present, future) 7
16 perfect progressive (past, present, future) 8
Adjective 17 Types: common & proper 7
(describing) 18 demonstrative 7
19 articles (a, an, the) 7
20 Comparison of adjectives: regular and irregular 7
Adverb 21 Types: regular (“ly”) & irregular 7
(describing) 22 negative (e.g. not, never); quantitative (e.g. 7
23 Comparison of adverbs: regular & irregular 7
Preposition(joining) 24 Types: simple & compound (e.g. in/in front of) 7
Conjunction(joining) 25 Types: co-ordinate (and, but, or, nor, for, yet, so) 7
26 correlative (either/or, neither/nor, not only/but also) 7
27 conjunctive adverb (e.g. therefore, thus, etc.) 7
28 subordinate conjunction: (e.g. because, if, when, 8/9
29 relative pronoun (e.g. that, which, who, etc.) 9
Interjection 30 expressing horror, surprise, etc. 7
Practice is the key to developing mastery of this objective. Practice sentences can be found in every
grammar text, in newspapers and magazines, as well as in the learner’s own writing. Learners should
develop a “hands-on” approach to identifying parts of speech by regularly using their own writing as a
source of practice material.
NOTE TO FACILITATORS AND LEARNERS:
1. The first grammar module,Parts of Speech, presents information and exercises to

accompany the objectives of BAU-ENG 6.5., Parts of Speech and IAU-ENG 2.1, Parts of
Speech.
2. Sections of this module marked with an asterisk (*) should be completed by learners
wanting to complete the BAU-ENG 6.5 objectives.
3. Learners working in IAU-ENG should complete all sections of this module. If they have
previously completed the BAU-ENG programme, those sections marked with an asterisk
should be reviewed.
4. Facilitators are free to use any support materials appropriate to their learners’ needs.
5. Additional resource materials may be required for those wanting more information on this
topic or for those needing more practice mastering certain areas.
6. Alternate support materials may be appropriate.
7. Learners should be very familiar with the parts of speech before they attempt Module 6,
Parts of the Sentence.
8. Grammar terms are not always consistent. Where possible, this module indicates alternate
terminology and ways of handling specific grammar situations. Learners should be
familiar with these, so that a wider variety of source materials are accessible to them.
9. The accompanying Practice Booklet contains exercises and an answer key in support of
specific teaching points. Many exercises may, however, be used to practice identifying a
variety of parts of speech.
10. Practice is essential to mastery of parts of speech. Learners will benefit from using their
own writing, newspapers, magazines, and novels as a source for practice sentences.
11. The real purpose for learning grammar is to help learner write and speak as effectively as
possible.
12. Do NOT write in this module. Please make your notes and complete the exercises in your
own notebooks so that other learners may also use these booklets.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
WHAT IS GRAMMAR? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
WHY STUDY GRAMMAR? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
WHAT ARE THE PARTS OF SPEECH? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Nouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Adjectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Adverbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Prepositions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Interjections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Conjunctions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
A CLOSER LOOK AT NOUNS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Rules for forming possessive forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
A CLOSER LOOK AT PRONOUNS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
A CLOSER LOOK AT VERBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Principle parts of the verb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Summary of verb tenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Irregular Verb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
A CLOSER LOOK AT ADJECTIVES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
A CLOSER LOOK AT ADVERBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
A CLOSER LOOK AT PREPOSITIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
CONJUNCTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
INTERJECTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
SOME COMMON GRAMMAR MISTAKES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
FEEDBACK FORM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
1
GRAMMAR: PART I
PARTS OF SPEECH
I INTRODUCTION•
This module is the first of three that focuses on the basics of English grammar
you need to speak and write as effectively as possible. Everyone already knows a
lot about grammar and uses it correctly most of the time. Whenever people read,
write, speak, or listen, they are using their knowledge of grammar. How did they
learn it? When they were learning to talk, they learned the names of things
(vocabulary), the different forms of a word (sings, sang, singing, sung, songs), and
they learned how to put them into sentences in the right order (syntax) so they
would be understood and get what they wanted.
A. WHAT IS GRAMMAR?•
Dictionaries define grammar as the rules and explanations which deal with the
forms and structure of words (morphology1), their arrangement in phrases and
sentences (syntax2), and their classification based on their function (parts of speech).
Like many dictionary definitions, this makes grammar sound more difficult than it
really is.
Look at this picture, and then write a simple
sentence (about 6 or 7 words) to explain what you see.
Be sure to write the sentence in your notebook.
1
The root word “morph” means form.
2
The etymology of “syntax” shows it meanings “putting together”.
2
Your sentence probably looks something like this.
1. The man is throwing the ball.

2. The pitcher is going to throw the ball.
You might even have written
3. The ball is being thrown by the pitcher.
Whatever you wrote, it probably include the word ball, the action throw, and a word
that meant a man. You certainly didn’t write
Ball throwing man the the is.
That wouldn’t make sense and people hearing or reading your message would be
confused. You wrote the sentence the way you did because you already know and
use the basic rules of grammar.
Here’s what probably happened at lightning speed in your head. First, you
saw the picture, and your brain understood the ideas the picture presented. Then
you thought the names (vocabulary) for the things you just saw and arranged them
(syntax) in an understandable order. Finally, you translated each sound in each
word into letters (spelling) and wrote the entire sentence. In fact, you probably
started your sentence with a capital letter and ended it with a period (punctuation).
You see you really do know lots about grammar!
B. WHY STUDY GRAMMAR?•
Although you do write “good sentences” most of the time, you may make a
few mistakes. Studying grammar is really just learning a new vocabulary so that
you can talk about and learn how to correct these mistakes. Understanding
grammar also helps you write new kinds of sentences that are more effective and
more persuasive.
Speaking and writing correctly are very important. Usually the first
impression someone, including a possible employer, has of us comes from what we
say or write and how we say it. People judge us and our abilities by the way we use
3
the language. For example, some people say “He sure done good!” or “He should
of went to the dance” or “Hunters didn’t shoot a big amount of deer this year.”
While the meaning is very clear, the way it was said (or written) may encourage
others to think that the speaker/writer probably doesn’t have much “schooling” or
else isn’t very good at expressing him/herself.
This module gives you a chance to find and correct any grammar mistakes
you may be making. Unless you correct those errors in grammar, you may be
unfairly judged, and your true abilities may go unrecognized.
C. WHAT ARE THE PARTS OF SPEECH?•
Although English has hundreds of thousands of words, every one can be

placed into at least one of eight groups, or classifications. The system of classifying
words based on their function is known as the parts of speech.
The eight parts of speech are

noun
pronoun
verb
adjective
adverb
preposition
conjunction
interjection
Learning about the eight parts of speech will help you understand the
grammar explanations of some of the mistakes you make and figure out how to
correct them.
Because some words can be used in several different ways, you have to look
at what a word is doing in a specific sentence before you can classify it (name its
part of speech). For example, look at these sentences.
He ran fast so he wouldn’t be late. (describes how he ran...adverb)
They will fast to raise money for UNICEF. (tells about an action...verb)
Their fast lasted for three days. (names a thing...noun)
4
The word “fast” is spelled the same, but it functions differently in each sentence.
II THE BASICS OF PARTS OF SPEECH•
A. NOUNS•
Words that name people, places and things are called nouns. The following
table lists a variety of nouns.
EXAMPLES OF NOUNS
PEOPLE cashier Carol boys
PLACES: province New Brunswick lake
THINGS: ANIMALS: cat Dalmatian bug
OBJECTS: fork television car
SUBSTANCES: iron air gold
ACTIONS: (a) race (the) dance (the) hits
MEASURES: kilogram centimetre day
QUALITIES: happiness honesty beauty
Nouns can be found anywhere in a sentence, and most sentences contain several
nouns. One way to find nouns is to look for the little words a, an, the. The naming
word that comes after them is probably a noun. Sometimes nouns appear without
these little words, but you can usually insert them without changing the meaning of
the sentence.
Paul and his children visited the continent of Africa and saw some lions.
Paul is a noun that names a person. Can you find 10

Children name people nouns in this
continent names a thing picture?
Africa names a place
lions names a thing.
5
Examine the following sentences carefully until you feel satisfied that you can
identify the nouns in most sentences.
Paul and his sister went to the zoo to see the elephants.
Her lawyer bought an old house in Moncton last year.
Finish your work before the big game starts on TV.
The Smiths lived on a farm until a week ago when the family moved to
town.
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, and Fredericton is the capital of this
province.
Sometimes people eat more food than their bodies need.
French is the first language of some citizens of Ontario.
Complete Exercise 1 and 2 in the Grammar Practice Booklet and check your
answers in the Answer Key. If you made more than one or two mistakes, you
should do more exercises from other textbooks. You may also choose to use any of
the exercises in the Grammar Practice Booklet to find nouns.
B. PRONOUNS•
Pronouns refer to and replace nouns (the names of people, places, and
things) that have already been mentioned, or that the speaker/writer assumes are
understood by the listener/reader. For example, “I want you to read this again.”
The words I, you, and this are pronouns. In this sample sentence, it isn’t necessary
to actually see the nouns (writer, reader, and sentence) because the
writer’s/speaker’s meaning is obvious
Examine the sentences below. For each pronoun printed in bold type, think of a
noun it could replace.
She saw it when they bought it.

(e.g. Sue saw the dog when the boys bought the dog.
Everybody was glad when it was over.

The candy that we gave them was made last year. Write a sentence about this
What did you buy from them? picture. Use pronouns
instead of nouns.
6
It barked loudly and then wagged its tail.

Some of this is important to me
When she heard herself on tape she was embarrassed.
We were surprised when they did the laundry themselves.

Who bought those from you?
Fill it up, please.
Many signed up, but few were chosen.
We planted them, but the birds ate everything.
Complete Exercise 3 and 4 in the Practice Exercise Booklet. If you need more
practice, find more exercises either in another text or use other exercises in the
Practice Booklet itself.
C. VERBS•
The third part of speech presented in this module is the verb, one of the main parts
of every sentence. Here are some hints that may help you locate verbs.
9. A sentence is not a sentence without at least one verb.

10. Verbs usually tell about an action.
11. Verbs are often found in the middle of sentences.
12. Verbs may consist of one word.
13. Verb phrases3 may have up to five words.
14. Verb phrases can be interrupted by small words like not, never, always.
15. Verbs change their form to tell about actions taking place at different times.
For example, We walked to the store yesterday can be changed to show the
action happening in the future. We will walk to the store tomorrow. The
word walked became will walk; therefore, they are verbs.
Here are some sentences that show verbs at work. Notice that some verbs have
more than one word and are sometimes interrupted by small words that are not part
of the verb.
3
Phrase...a group of words that belong together.
7
The pitcher threw the ball to the catcher.

The runner flew down the race track.
The farmer used all the water in his pond.
The dog was chasing its tail.
I have finished the laundry.

Have you written that letter?
They had already bought her present.
I have never seen anything like that before.
Paul can do anything.
Tracy will be buying her wedding dress in New York.
My dad thought that he could sell his old car for more.
She might have been being chased before her car smashed into the bridge.
Most students are usually sitting on the steps when the teacher arrives.
Some special verbs are a little more difficult to find because they do not show
any action. When you find the words am, are, is, was, and were used in a sentence
between two nouns, you have found one of these special kinds of verbs.
My sister is a nurse; I am a teacher; our father was a millwright.
Sometimes these special verbs are used to show how a person is feeling or to
describe a quality.
Alex and Jim were unhappy with their marks.

She is beautiful and talented.
They were always honest.
Learning to identify verbs takes lots of practice. Complete Exercises 5, 6, and 7 in
the Practice Exercise Booklet. Find more exercises if necessary and use them until
you feel satisfied that you can accurately pinpoint verbs in most sentences.
D. ADJECTIVES•
To talk or write about a person place or thing, you use nouns like girl, house,
or tree. To add descriptions to those nouns that give the reader a clearer picture of
what you mean, you add “detail” words in front of the noun like little, blue, rich,
old. Words that tell more about nouns or pronouns are called adjectives.
8
An adjective is a word which describes or modifies a noun or pronoun. A

modifier is a word that limits, changes, or alters the meaning of another word.
Therefore, an adjective limits, changes, or alters the meaning of a noun or pronoun.
Adjectives are usually placed before the noun.
the white, puffy clouds

a happy, carefree child
some tall, stately trees
a rich dark chocolate layer cake
five huge leafy bushes
Here’s another way of thinking of adjectives.

Imagine that you are in a large meeting room full of people. Your boss tells
you, “Give this piece of paper to the woman”. The only problem is that there are
twenty-three women in the room. To which one should you give the paper? Your
boss might have said “the tall woman”. The word tall is an adjective and somewhat
helpful, as only six of the women are tall. To which tall women should you give the
paper? Perhaps your boss said, “the tall, blond woman with the red dress”. The
words tall and blond are adjectives that help you pick out a specific woman from a
large group. In other words, these adjectives limit the noun woman to one specific
person.
The group of words “with the red dress” is also a form of adjective that helps
limit the meaning to one particular person. You will learn about these groups of
words later in this module. Examine the sample sentences below for a better
understanding of adjectives.
I have a car. I have a blue car. I have a small dark blue car.
The first sentence does not tell anything about my car, only that I have one. The
second adds the adjective blue. This descriptive word makes the sentence more
interesting and helping the reader “see” your car in his/her mind’s eye. The
meaning of the word car has been limited from all the cars in the world to only
those that are blue. The third sentence adds even more details. Other adjectives
like shiny, new, cool, powerful could be added that would further limit the meaning
of the word car or tell what kind it is.
9
One of the secrets of good writing is to include lots of details (adjectives),so the
reader can accurately see the picture you are describing in his/her mind’s eye.
Adjectives also tell how many, as in many people, several candies, and four
children. Words which limit the noun by telling which one or ones are also
adjectives. Such adjectives include this, that, these, and those, as in this car, that
coat, these boots, and those houses. These are demonstrative adjectives.
This book belongs to Pete; those pencils are Ted’s.
This and those are adjectives because they come in front of the nouns book and
pencils. This and those modify or limit the meaning of the nouns book and pencils.
The words this, that, these, and those can be used as either adjectives or
pronouns. Compare these two sentences to clarify the difference between their use
as adjectives and pronouns.
This belongs to Pete; those are Ted’s. (pronouns)
Pete bought this Ford, and Ted bought that Chevy. (adjectives)
This and those are pronouns in the first sentence because there are no nouns in the
sentence for them to modify. The nouns they “stand for” or replace were probably
mentioned in an earlier sentence. In the second sentence, this modifies the proper
noun Ford; that modifies the proper noun Chevy.
Compare the meaning of these two sentences.

I have a blue car. I have the blue car.
The words a and the change the meaning of the word car. Although some grammar
books call them indefinite (a, an) and definite articles (the), others called them
adjectives. Either is correct.
10
A REVIEW OF WHAT YOU HAVE READ SO FAR ABOUT ADJECTIVES:
L an adjective is a word that modifies a noun or a pronoun;
L an adjective tells what kind, as in old man, new clothes, bad taste, and
cold day;
L an adjective tells how many, as in many days, few hours, couple of

dollars, and two cities;
L an adjective tells which one or ones, as in those books, this restaurant,

these computers, that building;
L articles are also adjectives - a, the, and an.
Sometimes nouns can be used as adjectives. Glass, kitchen, and school are
usually nouns. Used in the following ways, however, many grammar books call
them adjectives:
I could see that he had a glass eye.

Hang the kitchen clock above the refrigerator.
Do you know the value of that school book?
In cases like these, if you are asked to identify the part of speech for glass,
kitchen, or school, there are two right answers: noun and/or adjective.
Examine these sentences that demonstrate this use of adjectives.
The big orange school bus pulled up beside those leafy maple trees.
Adjectives are sometimes hard to find. A good “trick” to remember is that

adjectives are almost always placed next to the nouns that they modify.
11
Write a sentence or two about this man that clearly describes him to someone who
cannot see the picture. Underline all the adjectives you used.
Complete the Exercises 8 and 9 on adjectives in the Practice Exercise Booklet. Find
more exercises if necessary and use them until you can accurately pinpoint
adjectives in most sentences.
12
E. ADVERBS•
You have just learned that adjectives modify nouns and pronouns. Another type of
describing word or modifier is the adverb. Adverbs limit, change, or alter the
words they modify.
1. ADVERBS MODIFY VERBS•
He is driving.
This sentence tells you only that a person is doing an action. If an adverb is
added, you will find out how he is driving, where he is driving, or when he is
driving.
How is he driving? He is driving quickly.

Where is he driving? He is driving away.
When is he driving? He is driving now.
2. ADVERBS MODIFY ADJECTIVES
In the following sentence, the noun sunset is described as beautiful. What

part of speech is the word beautiful.
The campers saw a beautiful sunset.
Beautiful is an adjective modifying the noun sunset. If you want to tell how
beautiful it was, you can add something in front of the adjective.
The campers saw a very beautiful sunset.

The campers saw a truly beautiful sunset.
When a word is added that expresses how beautiful the sunset was, or to
what extent it was beautiful, that word is called an adverb. Thus very and truly are
adverbs modifying the adjective beautiful.
13
Here are some of the words that can be used as adverbs in front of adjectives.
extremely somewhat
a little completely
really tremendously
particularly especially
perfectly unusually
3. ADVERBS MODIFY OTHER ADVERBS
Adverbs may also be used to modify other adverbs.
The dog ate quickly.
The adverb quickly modifies the verb ate and shows how the dog ate. By
adding another adverb, we can find out how quickly the dog ate, as follows:
How quickly did the dog eat? The dog ate very quickly.
WORDS ENDING IN “LY”•
Many adverbs are often made by adding ly to an adjective.
ADJECTIVE ADD -LY ADVERB

bright brightly
easy *first, change y to i easily
soft softly
full *first, change ll to l fully
careful carefully
quick quickly
* Check the dictionary if you are unsure about the correct spelling of any word.
14
WORDS THAT ARE ALWAYS ADVERBS•
Some words can only be used as adverbs, never as adjectives. A list of these
words follows. The only way to remember these words is to memorize them, and
learn to recognize them in sentences.
well4 often
quite surely
very not
almost never
always so (He was so happy.)
usually
In the section on verb phrases, you learned that some small words can be
found in the middle of verb phrases, but they are not verbs. Those words are
adverbs.
He was always asking questions.
He will never tell another lie.
Eric will not shop on Sundays.
I have often wondered about the moon.
WORDS THAT MAY BE ADVERBS OR ADJECTIVES
A few words can be used as adverbs or adjectives. Three examples of such

words are early, fast, and late.
The train arrived early. (adverb) It was an early train. (adjective)

Penny drives fast. (adverb) Penny is a fast driver. (adjective)
A student is late. (adverb) There is a late student. (adjective)
Complete Exercises 9 and 10 on adverbs in the Practice Exercise Booklet. Find

more exercises if necessary and use them until you feel satisfied that you can
accurately pinpoint adverbs in most sentences.
4
usually an adverb - can be an adjective to describe a person's health
15
F. PREPOSITIONS•
Preposition are joining words, sometimes called connectives, which are used
to show a time, place, or ownership relation between two nouns/pronouns or a noun
and a verb. Prepositions and the nouns/pronouns that follow them are always
grouped together and treated as a single grammar unit, called prepositional phrases.
preposition + noun or pronoun = prepositional phrase

Time: after + the party = (after the party)
Place: under + the table = (under the table)
Ownership: of + our town = (of our town)
Prepositions are always the first word in a prepositional phrase. Prepositional

phrases are used to add more detail to a sentence. The following sentence gives no
details about the person or her actions:
The girl walked.
Where did the girl walk? Perhaps she walked around the building:
The girl walked around the building.
The word around is a preposition which tells the relationship between the
girl walked and the building. Other prepositions show different relationships
between the girl walked and the building: Consider these prepositions.
The girl walked through the building.
The girl walked into the building.
The girl walked behind the building.
The girl walked to the building.
The girl walked beside the building.
The girl walked near the building.
In each sentence above, the prepositional phrases give more information

about the verb “walked” by telling where she walked. Adverb phrases can also be
used to tell how, in what way, when. Anything that modifies a verb is an adverb;
therefore, these prepositional phrases, telling where she walked, are called
prepositional adverb phrases.
16
Prepositional phrases can also be used as adjectives to modify a noun or

pronoun.
The colour of that paint is just right.
The driver in the 96 Ford was responsible.
The sweaters on the shelf match these jeans.
The books in that bag are yours.
Some boxes from Japan were delivered yesterday.
They rented the house on the corner.
The presents under the tree were delivered this morning.
In each example above, the prepositional phrase adds details about the noun.
Because these phrases function as adjectives, they are called prepositional adjective
phrases.
Here are some common prepositions:
about beyond out

above by outside
across down over
after during past
against except since
along for through
among from toward
at in under
before inside until
below into up
beneath of with
beside off without
between on within
Complete Exercises 10 and 11 on prepositions in the Practice Exercise Booklet.

Find more exercises if necessary and continue to practise until you can accurately
pinpoint prepositions and prepositional phrases in most sentences.
17
G. INTERJECTIONS•
Perhaps the easiest part of speech to find is the interjection. An interjection

is a word or group of words used to express strong feeling. It can be an actual
word, or merely a sound and is followed by an exclamation mark (!) or a comma.
Unlike all the other parts of speech, the interjection is not linked in any way to any
other word in the sentence. Following are some examples of interjections:
Wow! Oh!
Oh, no! Ouch!
Never! Fabulous!
Fantastic! Ah!
No! Wow!
Do Exercise 12 in the Grammar Practice Booklet.
H. CONJUNCTIONS•
Conjunctions, like prepositions, are also joining words or connectives.

Conjunctions are used to join words, phrases, or clauses5. Conjunctions can be
found in any position in a sentence except the very end. Before you can really
understand clauses, you will need to work through Module 6, Part of the Sentence.
For the purpose of this module, you can use the elimination method to find
conjunctions. It works like this: identify all the words you can in a sentence, those
that are left over are probably conjunctions. Look at these examples.
When lightning struck the old barn, it burned quickly
ù ù ù ù ù ù ù ù ù
? noun verb adj adj noun pronoun verb adverb
The word when looks like it might be an adverb, but does it tell you at what time?
No, the word itself doesn’t add any new information. What it does do is introduce a
group of words that tells specifically when something happened.
5
Clauses are “mini-sentences stuck into ‘real’ sentences” and which need special joining
words (conjunctions) to attach them..
18
Joe and Mike followed the young cub, but they could not catch it.
ù ù ù ù ù ù ù ù ù ù ù ù ù
noun ? noun verb adj adj noun ? pro verb adv verb pro
The words and and but are conjunctions. And joins two nouns; but joins two
complete ideas.
Complete Exercises 13 and 14 on conjunctions in the Grammar Practice

Booklet. Then complete Review Exercise 15 before you continue with this module.
Evaluate your learning so far! Which

statement below best describes you?
I understand parts of speech. ‘

I can usually identify the parts of speech correctly. ‘
I am beginning to get the basics of parts of speech. ‘
I am a little confused about parts of speech. ‘
I am totally lost. ‘
Based on how you rated your understanding of parts of speech, what do you
think you should do next?
Review? ‘
Start again? ‘
Do more practice work? ‘
Go on to the next section? ‘
19
III A CLOSER LOOK AT NOUNS
Nouns are words that name a person, place, or thing in a sentence.
A. TYPES OF NOUNS
Nouns are classified according to their meaning.
1. COMMON NOUNS AND PROPER NOUNS•

A word which names a person, place or thing in general is called a common
noun.
Examples: waiter, dog, province, girl, house, car, and city.
When a word names a particular, or the only, member of a class or group it is

called a proper noun. Proper nouns are always capitalized.
Examples:Paul (the name of a particular person ),
Doberman (the name of a particular kind of dog),
New Brunswick (the name of a particular province), and
Ottawa (the name of a particular city).
Do Exercise 16 and 17 in the Practice Booklet.
2. CONCRETE NOUNS AND ABSTRACT NOUNS•

If a noun names something that can be detected by the five senses, it is called
a concrete noun. Nouns like table, house, car, brain, cloud, sky are concrete
nouns. On the other hand, if a noun refers to qualities which do not exist in the real
world and cannot be felt, tasted, seen, heard or touched, they are categorized as
abstract nouns.
Examples: honesty, pride, beauty, swiftness, friendship, height, speed, faith
Do Exercise 18 in the Practice Booklet.
3. COLLECTIVE NOUNS
Collective nouns name groups or collections of people, places and things.
Examples: team, crowd, herd, flock, audience, jury, committee, panel.
Collective nouns have both singular and plural forms: one committee, six
committees.
Example: Six trials are scheduled so the judge called six juries.
20
Singular collective nouns can have a singular meaning (the group is acting as
a single unit) or a plural meaning (the group is acting as individuals). Here are two
examples that illustrate this point.
The jury is announcing its decision.
The jury are stating their opinions.
In the first sentence, the jury is acting as a single unit; everyone agreed on one
decision. In the second case, each juror is acting as an individual, and there are
many different opinions.
The team is buying new uniforms.

The team are buying new uniforms.
In the second set of examples, the first sentence describes a situation where the
team has held several fundraisers and the team as a unit will order and pay for the
clothes. The second sentence reports that each member of the team will shop for
and buy the uniform him/herself.
Do Exercise 19.
4. MASS NOUNS
Most nouns refer to things that can be counted like apples, steaks, miles,
chairs, bracelets, dollars, and are, therefore called count nouns. Mass nouns,
however, are similar to collective nouns, but refer to non-living things which cannot
be counted: They are always used in the singular even though they refer to many
items. Some grammar books call these mass nouns as non-count nouns.
Examples: meat, land, furniture, jewellery, money, food, timber, gold, clothing,
equipment.
Certain words and phrases are always used with non-count nouns.
an amount of jewellery (non-count) a number of rings (count)
a little meat (non-count) a few steaks (count)
some furniture (non-count) several chairs (count)
less clothing (non-count) fewer shirts (count)
Here are some examples of correct usage.

The farmer bought a large number of cows, so he needed a huge amount of grain.
21
His construction company owns several graders but only a little excavating
equipment.
We bought several chairs and some bedroom furniture.
My uncle owns a few acres in the country and a little land nearer town.
Be sure when you write or speak that you use the correct words to go with each
type of noun.
B. FORMS OF NOUNS
Grammar is also the study of the changes in spelling of form that words make
as they perform different functions in a sentence.
1. SINGULAR AND PLURAL•

Nouns may be singular referring to one, or plural, referring to more than
one. Most nouns change their form by adding “s” when they are plural. However,
there are exceptions to every rule - and exceptions for the exceptions. Module 4,
Spelling, explains the basic rules and the exceptions for forming plurals.
2. POSSESSIVE NOUNS•
Common and proper nouns can sometimes be further classified as possessive
nouns. A possessive noun shows ownership, belonging, or that something is part of
something else. They are easy to find in a sentence because they always include an
apostrophe (’).
Libby’s front teeth Eva’s big smile

Greg’s tiny nose
22
RULES FOR FORMING POSSESSIVE FORMS OF NOUNS
Conditions Possessive Form Examples
If a noun is add an apostrophe (') - the neighbour's car

singular and does plus s to the noun - the child's toys
not end in “s” - Gloria's career
- New Brunswick's art
If a noun is - if a new syllable is - Doris's store
singular and ends formed in the - my boss's approval
in “s”, be guided by pronunciation of the - Dennis's car
the way you say the possessive, add an - witness's description
word apostrophe plus “s”
- if adding an extra “s” - John Hastings' store
would make the word - Jesus' parables
seem awkward or hard - Phillips' farm
to pronounce, add - Mary Parsons' garden
only an apostrophe
If a noun is plural, add only an - students' lounge
and already has an apostrophe (') - witnesses' story
s at the end - librarians' club
- the Jones' party
- the ladies’ room
If a noun is plural add apostrophe (') s - oxen's hooves
and does not end - men's choir
in “s” - women's wear
- children's toys
Now examine the following phrases:

the boy’s bicycles the boys’ bicycles
Which phrase refers to one boy? Which refers to several boys? How can you tell?
If the apostrophe follows a singular form of the noun, it indicates that one
person owns the item. If it follows the plural form of the noun, it shows that several
23
people own it. Examine these phrases. How many people own the house?
The party is going to be at my friends’ house.
Look at the word with the apostrophe. It was already plural before the apostrophe
was added, so the house is owned by two or more friends. Now examine these
phrases:
the lady’s room the ladies’ room
Which phrase probably indicates a bedroom? Which likely refers to a washroom?

Why? What grammar mistake is almost always made on the doors of public
restrooms?
Look at the illustration below. Which phrase correctly describes the man?
the babies’ grandfather
the baby’s grandfather
How about the picture to the right? Which sentence is the

best description of the whole picture?
The books’ covers are different colours.
The book’s covers are different colours.
Babies’ grandfather is correct

The books’ covers is correct
24
Pay attention to the position of the apostrophe when you read or write because it
gives you important information about who owns the item(s).
Hints for Using Possessive Nouns
1. The possessive form of a noun is rarely used in formal writing with plants
and non-living objects. For example, it is better to write "the legs of the
table" instead of "the table's legs" or "the leaves of a tree" rather than "the
tree's leaves."
2. However, it is acceptable to use the possessive form for common expressions
referring to time and measurement, such as
two weeks' vacation
five dollars' worth
one hour's time
3. Avoid using two or more possessives together in a sentence. Here’s an
example:
Sarah's boyfriend's mother's house is for sale.
The above sentence contains 3 possessives. Only one is acceptable. A better

version of the sentence would look like this:
The house belonging to the mother of Sarah's boyfriend is for sale.
4. Examine the following sentence. Then, create a rule to explain what you
found.
Mary and Susan’s mother arrived yesterday.
You should have written something like this: “When two or more people
“own” something together, you use an apostrophe only with the owner who is
mentioned last.”
5. If both nouns are possessive, each one owns a separate thing.

Mary’s and Susan’s houses are on the same street.
Do Exercises 22, 23, and 24 in the Practice Booklet.

25
IV A CLOSER LOOK AT PRONOUNS•
Pronouns replace nouns that were mentioned earlier. The following

paragraph contains no pronouns.
Our cat’s name is Spot. Our cat is black and white. Our cat’s
body is mostly white. Our cat has four black paws. Our cat has
a long black tail. Our cat purrs a lot. Our cat never scratches.
Our cat likes to play. My mother, my father, two brothers, and
three sisters love our cat.
What’s wrong with this paragraph? How does it sound? Would you want to read a
whole book that was written like this? Why not?
When the paragraph is rewritten, using pronouns to replace some nouns, it
sounds more natural and interesting, and less repetitive.
Our cat’s name is Spot. It is black and white. Its body
is mostly white but its four paws are black. It has a
long black tail. We call our cat Spot. It purrs a lot, and
it never scratches. Spot likes to play. Everyone in our
family loves the cat.
TYPES OF PRONOUNS•
Pronouns are divided into eight groups depending on their meaning and how
they are used in a sentence.
It is for you!
26
A. PERSONAL PRONOUNS•
Personal pronouns are used frequently in English to make writing and
speaking more interesting.
These Personal Pronouns CAN BE USED IN PLACE OF:

I, me, my, mine your name
we, us, our, ours, your name and the names of other people
you, your, yours the name of someone else you are addressing
he, him, his boy, man, male
she, her, hers girl, woman, female
it, its, they, them, their, theirs plants, objects, actions, substances, and other
things you would not refer to as "he" or "she"
they, them, theirs, their people
Personal pronouns can be classed by number, person, gender, and case. The
grammar term number means singular or plural. The pronouns I, you, he, she, it
are singular forms; the words we, you, they are plural.
Pronouns are also grouped by person. I and we are first person pronouns
and refer to the writer/speaker, obviously the “most important person(s)” in the
message. You is classed as second person because the person referred is present.
He, she, it, and they are called third person pronouns because the person(s) referred
to is not present.
Person Singular Plural

1st person I, me, my, mine we, us, our, ours
2nd person you, your, yours you, your, yours
3rd person he, him, his, his they, them, their, theirs
she, her, hers
it, its
27
* If the pronoun you is used to refer to one person, then it is considered singular. (I
want you to close the door.) If, on the other hand, you is used to designate a group
of people, it is considered plural (Class, I want you to be on time.)
The term gender refers to nouns and pronouns. Nouns which name a male
person are called masculine: waiter, actor, aviator. Nouns which name a female
person are called feminine: waitress, actress, aviatrix. The pronouns he, him, his
show masculine gender, and she, her, hers show feminine gender. The pronoun it
which shows no gender is called neuter and is used to refer to plants, animals, and
inanimate objects which are singular. In English, plural pronouns, we, you, they,
etc. are used to replace plural nouns, regardless of gender.
Case is a term used in grammar to talk about the special forms of pronouns
needed when they are used in different places in a sentence. Module 6, Grammar:
Part 2, explains case in greater detail.
Some of personal pronouns are used to show possession or ownership.

my, mine
your, yours
his, his
her, hers,
its, ---
our, ours
their, theirs
whose, -----
Read the following sentence which does NOT contain possessive pronouns.
Mary is standing by the door. That coat belongs to Mary.
The sentence could be rewritten, using the possessive pronoun hers to replace
the second Mary and the part of the sentence belongs to.
Mary is standing by the door. That is her coat.

OR
Mary is standing by the door. That coat is hers.
28
Very important: Possessive pronouns do not need apostrophes because the

spelling the word itself shows that it is possessive. The words it’s, you’re, and
they’re are not possessive pronouns; they are contractions of it is, you are, and they
are. Examine these sentences and learn the difference.
It’s always funny when the dog chases its tail.

You’re going to be surprised when you see your new sister.
Their apartment will be for rent when they’re transferred to Saint John.
1. PRONOUN SELECTION•
What do you think is wrong with the following sentence?

People are often told that if they want a good job you have to stay in school.
The only pronouns in the sentence are they and you. Both pronouns replace
People, a noun which means a group of people who are not present at the time of
speaking. Of course, the pronoun you can also refer to a group of people, but they
must be present. The people referred to in this sentence are , however, not present
at the time of speaking. The pronouns, therefore, do not match, but they should
match. The sentence should be corrected.
A lot of people have been told if they want a good job they have to stay in school.
Here’s another common error in pronoun selection.

My mother and me rushed into the house.
The pronoun "me" is not correct in the right case. The sentence should read:
My mother and I rushed into the house.
An easy way to select the right personal pronoun, (I/me, he/him, she/her,
we/us, they/them is to test the pronoun alone. For instance, you can test the
sentence above by reading it, using only the pronoun.
Me rushed into the house.
You know that does not look right or sound right. It should read
I rushed into the house.
29
It is obvious now that the correct pronoun is “I”.

Look at this sentence.
Mr. Smith gave John and I three letters to mail.
This sentence may look and sound correct, but it contains a basic grammar
mistake that lots of people, even well-educated ones, make. You can find the error
by imagining that Mr. Smith gave to letter to only one person.
Mr. Smith gave I three letters to mail.
Just as in the example above, you can hear and see that this is not correct. The
pronoun me is the correct form, and the sentence should be corrected like this.
Mr. Smith gave John and me three letters to mail.
The next two examples show a very common error, heard often in speech.
Are yous going to the movie tonight?
The error may seem obvious in print, but be careful when you are speaking. Many
people make this mistake. When speaking to one OR more than one person, the
pronoun you is the correct choice. Yous is not a word.
Give me them pencils so I can sharpen them.
The pronoun them is never used with a noun. The correct word to use in this
sentence is those.
Give me those pencils so I can sharpen them.
Do Exercises 30, 31, 32, and 33 in the Practice Booklet.

30
2. PRONOUNS AND THEIR ANTECEDENTS•
Margaret rode her bike to the mall.
The pronoun her replaces the possessive noun Margaret's and refers to the
proper noun Margaret at the beginning of the sentence. In this sentence, the
noun Margaret is the antecedent of the pronoun her.
An antecedent is the noun or nouns a pronoun refers to or replaces. The noun

“Margaret” is the antecedent of the pronoun “her”.
The only reason for knowing about antecedents at this point in the course is
to improve your sentence writing. The pronoun must agree with the antecedent it
replaces. This means that the pronoun and its antecedent must match. Read this
sentence.
An employee must always be ready to give their best service to each customer.
What is the antecedent of the possessive pronoun their; in other words, who is
supposed to give the best service? The antecedent of their is employee. Is the noun
employee singular or plural? Is the pronoun their singular or plural? To make this
sentence grammatically correct, employee and the pronoun which replaces it their
must agree. This means that the pronoun and the word it replaces must match.
There are two ways to correct this grammar mistake. Make both words plural, or
make them both singular.
Employees must always be ready to give their best service to each customer.
OR
An employee must always be ready to give his (or her) best service to each
customer.
Note: When it is impossible to tell whether an employee (mechanic, person, student,

teacher, etc.) is male or female, it is now considered more appropriate to write the
singular form of the sentence this way.
An employee must always be ready to give his/her best service to each customer.
31
Here is another place where using the right pronoun is essential.

Al and Tim actually cleaned his apartment yesterday.
The sentence is not clear.. Whose apartment was cleaned? Did it belong to Al?
Tim? Al and Tim? or someone else entirely? When the pronoun agrees with its
antecedent, the sentence will read
Al and Tim actually cleaned their apartment yesterday.
If the apartment belongs to someone else entirely, the pronoun his is still incorrect
because it has no antecedent. The reader doesn’t know who his refers to because
the writer hasn’t mentioned anyone else. The corrected version is
Al and Tim actually cleaned Mark’s apartment yesterday.
How would you rewrite the sentence if the apartment belonged only to Al?
Al and Tim actually cleaned Al’s apartment yesterday.
Sometimes when you are writing a story or an essay, the antecedent does not
appear in the same sentence as the pronoun which replaces it.
Carla and Jack left for vacation yesterday. They went to Tahiti.
The pronoun they replaces the antecedents Carla and Jack in the previous
sentence. When you proofread your own writing, you should read it through just
looking for correct agreement of pronouns and their antecedents.
Do Exercises 34 and 35 in the Practice Booklet.
B. INDEFINITE PRONOUNS•
In the following sentence,

Everybody should sit in his or her seat until the plane has stopped.
everybody is a pronoun. Because it does not refer to any particular person or thing,
it is an called an indefinite pronoun.
The pronoun everybody is singular. When referring to everybody, use a
singular pronoun like he/his, or she/he. Do not use the plural pronouns they/their to
32
replace everybody.
Incorrect: Everybody should sit in their seat until the plane has stopped.
Even though it may sound “right” because you have heard it so often, it is NOT
correct. The correct version is
Correct: Everybody should sit in his/her seat until the plane has stopped.
Other singular indefinite pronouns include
any everything
anybody everyone
anything each
anyone nobody
everyone no one
everything none
everybody nothing
either somebody
neither someone
another something
A few indefinite pronouns are plural. The pronoun they/their is the proper
choice for replacing or referring to such indefinite pronouns. Plural indefinite
pronouns include:
several few
all some
both many

33
C. DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS
This very small group of pronouns is extremely useful in making clear

sentences.
Singular Plural
this these
that those
such such
Use this and these to point out something close to you; use that and those to refer
to things that are farther away. The word such can be used as either singular or
plural. (e.g. Such a horse is hard to find.(singular) Such horses are hard to find.
(plural)
Demonstrative pronouns are used to replace a noun or nouns.
Give her the book. Give her this. Book is the antecedent of this
Eat the pie. Eat that. Pie is the antecedent of that.
Give her the books. Give her these. Books is the antecedent of these
Eat the pies. Eat those. Pies is the antecedent of those.
Take his coat and hat. Take them. Coat and hat are the
antecedents of them.
Remember to look for the antecedent before you decide that this, that, these, and
those are demonstrative pronouns. If you cannot find the antecedent, the words are
not demonstrative pronouns.
I know that you are honest. (Not a demonstrative pronoun)
Buy those pork chops. (Not a demonstrative pronoun)
I sold some cakes, but I gave those to Mary. (A demonstrative pronoun)

34
D. REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS
Reflexive pronouns are used when the “receiver” of the action is the same
person as the “doer”. In other words, if someone does something to himself or
herself, the action is expressed using a reflexive pronoun.
Tammy cut herself on the broken glass.
The children frightened themselves with ghost stories.
Singular reflexive pronouns: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself

Plural reflexive pronouns: ourselves, yourselves, themselves
Notice the two different second person forms of the reflexive pronoun. If the
sentence is directed to one person, use the singular form yourself, but if it refers to a
group, use the plural form yourselves.
Andy, you must be careful not to push yourself too far.
Players, watch yourselves out there on the field today.
Although it may sound and look correct, there is no such word as “themself”.
Check the dictionary. Can you find the word “themself”? Can you explain why
not?
E. EMPHATIC PRONOUNS
Emphatic pronouns6 look exactly like reflexive pronouns but they are used
to emphasize a noun or another pronoun. For example, when you want to point out
that you did something all by yourself, you might say,
I fixed the car myself. or I, myself, wouldn’t pass judgement on him.
Singular emphatic pronouns: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself

Plural emphatic pronouns: ourselves, yourselves, themselves
Examples: You, yourself, are better able to answer that question.

They arranged their trip to Toronto themselves.
I inspected the tree itself before deciding it was dead.
6
Some grammar texts call this group “intensive pronouns”.
35
F. RECIPROCAL PRONOUNS
There are only two reciprocal pronouns: each other, one another.
Example: The friends started listening to each other and their relationship
improved.
She taught her children to help one another.
G. INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS•
When you ask a question about someone or something, you often start with
an interrogative pronoun.
Interrogative pronouns: who7, whom8 whose, which, what
Example: Who is going to the dance next week?

Whom will you ask about the schedule?
Which do you like best, CDs or tapes?
What are you going to wear tomorrow?
You will see the words who, whom, which, that in many sentences. If they are not
used to ask a question, they are not interrogative pronouns.
The man who lives there recently walked to Miramichi.
We saw the boat which was damaged by the whale.
H. RELATIVE PRONOUNS
Relative pronouns are used to insert special grammar structures called

clauses into a basic sentence. The term “clause” really means extra bits of
7
Module 6 explains how to use “who” and “whom” correctly.
8
Module 6 explains how to use “who” and “whom” correctly.
36
information in a sentence, expressed in a special way. Module 6, Parts of the

Sentence explains their use in detail.
Relative pronouns: who, whoever, whom, whomever.....to refer to people

which...............................................to refer to things
that...................................................to refer to people/things
Examples: The man who is wearing the red shirt just robbed the bank.
The teacher whom you met trained in France.
I saw the television program which was banned in the States.
I almost forgot that it was your birthday.
The driver that stopped didn’t get a ticket.
The driver who didn’t stop got a ticket.
We went to see her favourite movie which was playing in Woodstock.
Do Review Exercises 40, 41, and 42 in the Practice Booklet.

37
V A CLOSER LOOK AT VERBS•
The third part of speech presented in this module is the verb, one of the main
parts of every sentence. In fact, a sentence is not a sentence without at least one
verb.
A. TYPES OF VERBS•
A verb is a word that expresses action or state of being.
1. ACTION VERBS•
Most verbs are action verbs. They show that something is being done or that
something is happening. They refer to actions that can be observed with the five
senses, such as
The children ran after the dog.
The horse jumped the fence.
The rose grew very quickly.
He caught the ball easily.
She drives very carefully when it’s snowing.
Make twenty short sentences like the ones above. Underline the verbs you
used. Make sure they express a physical action you can actually observe.
Action verbs may also show mental action that cannot be seen or observed.
She thought about what she had done.
They realized their mistake.
That accounted for his absence.
David decided to move to Woodstock.
You can guess the answer?
Trish really loves her husband.

38
2. STATE OF BEING VERBS•
A very small number of verbs express a state of being. These non-action

verbs are sometimes called linking verbs or copula verbs. They show that
something or somebody exists. Examples of these types of verbs include:
I am here. We were scared.
You are hungry. You will be successful.
John is tired. They were unhappy.
Sherri is an accountant. He was a good friend.
The dog was friendly.
A list of non-action or linking verbs includes
LINKING VERBS
am was being
is were be
are has been had been
have been will be will have been
are become (all forms) seem (all forms)
Compare these sentences.

I am happy.
I am a student.
I ate the apple.
In the first sentence the verb am describes the writer’s state of being and “happy”
describes how the writer is feeling. This is one way to use a “state of being” or
“linking verb. In the second sentence, the noun student and the pronoun I refer to
the same person, and the sentence means that “I” = “a student”. In other words,
the writer’s state of being is as a student. This is the second use of the “state of
being” or “linking verb”. Module 6, Parts of the Sentence presents more
information on linking verbs.
On the other hand, the verb in the third example ate definitely describes an action.
As well, I and apple do not refer to the same thing. The verb ate is an action verb,
not a linking verb.
39
A few verbs can be used as either action verbs or linking verbs. Here are the most
common ones.
smell grow
taste sound
feel look
If these verbs are used to describe a physical action, something that can really
happen or that is observable, they are considered to be action verbs.
Martha tasted the chili.
Bob smelled the smoke from the forest fire.
He felt the water before he jumped in.
Tom grew 3 inches last year.
The engineer sounded the locomotive’s horn at the crossing.
The investigator looked carefully at the evidence.
If these same verbs are used to express a state of being, or the fact that something
has certain qualities, they are consider to be linking verbs.
The chili tastes good.
A bowl of chili does not have taste buds or a mouth and, therefore, cannot perform
the physical action of tasting. Examine the sentences below where these verbs are
used as linking verbs. (Notice that you can replace each of these linking verbs with
the verb seem or is or become.)
The smoke smelled stronger now.
The sculpture felt smooth.
The music sounded perfect in the arena.
The evidence looks convincing in this case.
The sky grew dark before the storm.
Do Exercise 44, 45, 46, and 47 in the Practice Booklet.
B. FORMS OF VERBS•
1. AUXILIARY OR HELPING VERBS•
In the previous section, the verbs you identified consisted of only one word.
He walked to school every day.
40
My Aunt Teresa feels sick.
A verb can sometimes be made up of more than one word, called a verb phrase.
Within a verb phrase, the word that expresses the action is called the main verb and
the other words that tell when the situation took place are called auxiliary verbs.
I will travel to Halifax on the train.
Sue and Greta were finishing the decorating.
We have thought about a vacation this winter.
Did you write that poem?
In the above sentences, will, were, have, and did are helping or auxiliary verb.
Travel, finishing, thought, and write are the main verbs.
Think about how the auxiliary verbs change the meaning in the sentences below.
I am eating my dinner now.
Before calling, I had eaten my dinner.
When you called, I was eating my dinner.
I will eat all the cookies before the sale.
I will have eaten my dinner by 6 o’clock.
Sometimes, will can be a main verb, as in I willed all my property to my children.

When will comes before a main verb, however, it is a helping or auxiliary verb.)
Here are some other words that can be used as helping or auxiliary verbs.
has have had
would could should
may might must
can
am is are
was were
has have had
shall will
do does did
have been, has been, had been
am being, are being, is being, was being, were being
41
As you have just seen, some sentences have more than one helping or
auxiliary verb.
I will have saved enough money by Christmas.
Both will and have are auxiliary verbs. The main verb is saved.
Although rare, it is possible to have as many as four helpers in one verb
phrase.
At 5:00 p.m., the new engine will have been being tested for 57 hours.
I have never driven in a big city before.
Here tested is the main verb, and will have been being are the auxiliary verbs.
In some sentences, the main verb is separated from the auxiliary verb or verbs
by other “non-verb”words.
I should have enough saved by Christmas to buy a special gift.
The word enough is not a verb nor an auxiliary verb. Saved is the main verb,
should and have are the auxiliary verbs. Here is a list of some of words that you
may find in the middle of a verb phrase, but which are never part of the verb phrase.
not never scarcely
always usually sometimes
please enough hardly
almost just
2. VERB TENSES•
Verbs are the most important part of the sentence. In fact, you cannot have a
sentence without a verb. Verbs express states of being or things happening today,
in the present; before today, in the past; as well as what will happen after today, in
the future.
In order to talk about the present, past, and future, we need to use different
forms of verbs, sometimes with the help of auxiliary verbs.
Every verb has FOUR main forms, called PRINCIPAL PARTS OF VERB.
42
PRINCIPAL PARTS OF THE VERB

I II III IV
PRESENT PAST PAST PRESENT
PARTICIPLE PARTICIPLE
walk9 walked walked walking
carry carried carried carrying
bring brought brought bringing
sing sang sung singing
hit hit hit hitting
do did done doing
am, are, is was, were been being
has, have had had having
We use these forms of verbs to write and talk about things that happen at
different times: past, present, and future. Decide when the action in each of these
verbs took place: past, the present or the future. How can you tell?
1. The children had heard the story.
2. The children are reading the story.
3. The children will be hearing the story.
1. Past 2. Present 3. Future...the auxiliary helps indicate the time
Although English has many verb tenses, this module explains four common tenses.
simple tenses
perfect tenses
progressive tenses
perfect progressive tenses
9
This form becomes “walks”, “carries”, “brings”, etc. in the third person singular.
43
a. Simple Verb Tenses•

These verb tenses are used to express actions in their simplest form. There
are three forms of the simple tense: past, present and future.
Simple past - I walked to the store today.
To create this tense use the second principal part of the verb, from Column II.
Simple present - He walks to school.
To create this tense use the first principal part of the verb, from Column I.
Simple future - They will walk to the movies tomorrow.
To create this tense use shall or will as auxiliaries along with the first principal part
of the verb from Column I.
Notice that the future tense always contains an extra word: shall or will. Today,
“will” is almost always used when speaking about the future, but the correct written
form uses “shall” in the first person, I and we; will in the second and third person.
I shall walk to the store. We shall walk home
You (singular-one person) will sing a song. You (plural) will write that test.
He will talk to them They will attend the lecture.
She will make the cake.
It will be here.
SUMMARY OF SIMPLE TENSES

TENSE AUXILIARY PRINCIPAL EXAMPLE
PART
Simple past none Column II - past I walked
Simple present none Column I - present I walk, he walks
Simple future will or shall Column I - present They will publish
b. Perfect Tenses
The three forms of the perfect tense (past, present and future) are used to
express a single action which has been, or is about to be, completed. The perfect
tenses are often used to show which of two actions happened first. It is built using
44
some form of the auxiliary to have (has, have, had, shall will have) plus the past
participle (Examples of past participles are shown in Column III of the chart called
Principal Parts of the Verb.)
Past perfect - I had answered your letter before you called me.
Because this is the past perfect, it uses had, the past form of to have as its
auxiliary. It is easy to see that the action happened in the past, but also notice that
the answering took place before the calling.
Present perfect - I have completed my assignment.

He has finished his work.
Despite its name, this present perfect verb tense tells about actions that happened
in the past, but the actions happened more recently (closer to the present) than if the
past perfect tense were used. Compare the two sentences below to understand the
difference in meaning between the two tenses.
The truck has delivered the load of topsoil. - Present Perfect
The truck had delivered the washing machine. - Past Perfect
Which action happened farthest in the past? Which action happened most recently?
You can see that the present perfect refers to action that happened more recently.
The third form of the perfect tense is the future perfect.

Future perfect - He will have launched the boat before the storm hits.
I shall have showered before you arrive.
Here the time frame is a little more difficult to see, but it is clear that the boat
launching will definitely take place before the arrival of the storm. The future
perfect uses the future form of the verb to have (shall have or will have). Here all
the action definitely takes place in the future, but see how one action (launching and
showering) takes place closer to the present than the other.
45
SUMMARY OF PERFECT TENSES

TENSE AUXILIARY PRINCIPAL PART EXAMPLE
Past perfect had Column III- past participle We had walked
Present perfect has, have Column III- past participle He has sung
Future perfect will have, Column III- past participle I shall have done
shall have
c. Progressive Tenses
The progressive tenses also describe actions in the past, present and future.
When you want to describe actions that continued over a period of time, you use
one of the progressive tenses. This tense is constructed by using some form of the
verb to be (am, is, are, was, were, shall be, will be) plus the present participle
from Column IV in the chart.
Past progressive: Gilda was washing the dishes when he arrived.

Notice how the action of washing dishes takes place over a period of time. This
tense is constructed by using the past form of the verb to be (was, were) plus the
present participle from Column IV (washing).
Present progressive: The children are watching a puppet show.

Here, too, the action of “watching” takes place over a period of time, and the
auxiliary is the present form of the verb to be (am, are, is) plus the present participle
form from Column IV (watching).
Future progressive: Eventually, they will be selling only new computers.

In this case, the action described in this sentence will be taking place over a period
of time, at sometime in the future. The future form of to be (will be, shall be) acts
as the auxiliary along with the present participle from Column IV (selling).
46
SUMMARY OF THE PROGRESSIVE TENSES

TENSE AUXILIARY PRINCIPAL PART EXAMPLE
Past Progressive was, were Column IV-present participle He was eating
Present Progressive am, are, is Column IV-present participle You are eating
Future Progressive will be, Column IV-present participle We will be
shall be doing
d. Perfect Progressive Tenses

The perfect progressive tenses are a combination of the perfect tense and the
progressive tense. Perfect progressive tenses are created by using forms of both to
have and to be as auxiliaries. The main verb in the perfect progressive tenses is
taken from Column IV, the present participle.
Past Perfect Progressive: This man had been asking too many questions.
My sisters had been discussing my birthday party.
Present Perfect Progressive: My groceries have been costing too much lately.
He has been saving his money to buy a car.
Future Perfect Progressive: I shall have been watching TV for hours by then.
They will have been driving for sixty hours when they arrive.
RECOGNIZING VERB TENSES

The key to naming verb tenses lies in recognizing the auxiliary verb and the
principal part of the main verb it uses.
Sheila had answered all their questions.
1. Begin by identifying the whole verb phrase...................had answered

2. Identify the auxiliary. Here the auxiliary is had from the verb to have
3. Which tenses use the auxiliary to have?........................the perfect tenses
4. Is the auxiliary in the past, present or future.................had is in the past form.
The verb phrase had answered is in the past perfect tense. As a final check, look
at the main verb. Is it in the form of a past participle (Column III)? Yes. Then, this
is truly an example of a past perfect tense.
Try this one yourself.
The students will be walking to school from now on.
47
Identify the verb phrase will be walking

Identify the auxiliary verb will be
This comes from to be
Tense is progressive
What form? will is future
The verb tense is future progressive
Remember one of the best reasons for learning about verb tenses is so that
you will recognize the complete verb phrase in a sentence, and choose the correct
form when writing. There are other tenses, but you learn them later.
The following chart is a combination of all the summary charts dealing with
verb tenses.
SUMMARY OF VERB TENSES
TENSE AUXILIARY PRINCIPA EXAMPLE

L PART
Simple Past none Column II I walked
Simple Present none Column I He sings
Simple Future shall or will Column I They will sing
Past Perfect had Column III We had hit
Present Perfect has, have Column III She has carried
Future Perfect shall/will have Column III I shall have rung
Past Progressive was, were Column IV He was hearing
Present Progressive am, is, are Column IV You are finding
Future Progressive shall/will be Column IV She will be fitting
Past Perfect Progressive had been Column IV I had been sitting
Present Perfect Progressive has/have been Column IV He has been filling
Future Perfect Progressive will have been Column IV We will have been biting

48
IRREGULAR VERB•
As you may have noticed, some verbs form their principal parts by changing
their spelling. These verbs are called irregular verbs. The next chart lists a few of
these irregular verbs. If you are unsure about the correct form of a verb, just use the
dictionary. Look up the verb. If it is an irregular verb, the dictionary gives its
principal parts right after the “entry word”. If there are no words written in bold
type, it is a regular verb and all you need to do is add “s”,”ing” or “ed” to form its
principal parts.
IRREGULAR VERBS
PRESENT PAST PAST
PARTICIPLE
throw threw thrown
feel felt felt
spring sprang sprung
ring rang rung
drink drank drunk
bring brought brought
burst burst burst
eat ate eaten
rise rose risen
raised raised raised
swim swam swum
cut cut cut
lie (to recline) lay lain
lay (to place) laid laid

49
3. ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE
A final way to categorize verbs is as active voice or passive voice, based on s

sentence structure and meaning.
Verbs when used in the active voice look like this in a sentence.
The VIA train hit the truck at 7:43 P.M. on a stormy night.
In sentences using active voice, the person or thing that did the action is usually
mentioned first and the thing that received the action is mentioned last. When you
hear or read a sentence, you naturally place the most importance on the thing you
hear first, so in this example, the VIA train has the strongest focus.
On the other hand, sentences that use verbs in the passive voice look like this.
The truck was hit by the VIA train on a stormy night.
The truck was hit on a stormy night.
In this case, the focus is now centred on the truck because it is mentioned first. The
effect of using a passive voice is to “downplay” the “doer” of the action.
Many beginning writers use a lot of passive voice verbs in their writing.
“Good writing” generally avoids the passive voice because it takes away from and
weakens the message.
There are only a few occasions when the passive voice is useful. One of them
is to reduce someone’s or something’s responsibility for an action. For example, if
you worked for VIA and were afraid that the company might be sued for negligence,
which of the three sentences above would you write? The one which “downplays”
the railway’s responsibility is
The truck was hit on a stormy night.
Think about how you report bad news. Often it is phrased in the passive.
Kids are really good at using the passive to avoid responsibility.
My report card got lost....(by me).
I had an accident and the fender was crumpled. (by me).
Here’s an easy way to find passive verbs. Read the sentence and see if you can find
a phrase that starts with “by..someone/something”. If you can, the verb is probably
passive. If you can’t find a “by” phrase, try to insert one of your own.
That house was designed by a famous architect.
The candles were melted. (by whom? by what?....by the heat.)
50
It is important to know how to reduce the number of passive verbs you use in
your writing. Passive verbs make your message weak and ineffective. When you
proofread your work, you should always read it through just looking for passives.
When you find them, restructure the sentences to place the “doer” of the action at
the beginning of the sentence. For example, if you find a sentence that looks like
this
Mark was bitten by a vicious dog.
you should rewrite it, putting the “doer” at the beginning.
A vicious dog bit Mark.
At the party, CDs were played and local news discussed.

This would be more effective if the verbs were in the active voice.
At the party, the guests played CDs and discussed local news.
Complete Review Exercises 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, and 60 in the Practice Booklet.
Although Lois could barely keep up, she still

grabbed Clark’s arm and ........
Finish the story in 5 or 6 more sentences.
How many verbs did you use? What tenses did you use?
Proofread your story and look for passive verbs. Make sure your story uses only
active verbs.
51
VI A CLOSER LOOK AT ADJECTIVES•
Adjectives are describing words which add details about the nouns in a
sentence. Adjectives are usually placed BEFORE the nouns or pronouns they
modify. However, adjectives can occasionally be found AFTER nouns and
pronouns.
The trees, tall and leafy, lined the driveway.

The man with the umbrella stood in the rain.
Writers choose to place the adjectives after the noun to get a special effect.
Adjectives which follow a noun are always surrounded by commas.
The clouds, puffy and white, sailed across the autumn sky.
A child, busy and happy, is the best thing a mother can think of.
The survivors, pale and fearful, huddled in the ambulance.
A sentence with a linking verb uses adjectives like this:

The trees were tall and stately.
The clouds were white and puffy.
I am happy about winning the lottery.
The counsellors were very angry.
The words tall, stately, white, puffy, happy, angry are all adjectives. They are
placed after the linking verb and give more information about the person or thing
which comes before the verb. These are a special kind of adjective called a
predicate adjective. You will learn more about these predicate adjectives in
Module 6. Here are some more examples of adjectives used with linking verbs.
The book is heavy.
The tourists are American.
I am frustrated with my son's behaviour.
Max was late again today.
The boys will be hungry.
They became nervous when they heard the thunder.
It seems to be injured.

52
VII A CLOSER LOOK AT ADVERBS
Adverbs are describing words which add details to the sentence by modifying
verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. Adverbs often end in “ly”. Review the section
on adverbs on page 10 at the beginning of this module before continuing.
DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS•
The word good is an adjective and the word well is almost always used as an
adverb.
He wrote a good answer.
In this sentence, use the adjective good because it modifies a noun and tells more
about the noun answer.
Well is usually an adverb. In the sentence below, well modifies the verb
answered and that tells how the questions was answered.
He answered the question well.
Exception: The word well can be used as an adjective when used in relation to how
someone feels. How are you? I am well. Or I feel well.
Using the “wrong” modifiers is a common mistakes both in speaking and

writing. To use them properly, you must know which part of speech is needed in
the sentence you are creating: an adverb or an adjective. Practice is the best way to
master adverbs and adjectives.
COMPARISONS USING MODIFIERS•

Sometimes a sentence compares two or more things. When comparing two
things, add “er” to most modifiers, either adjective or adverb. If the sentence
sounds awkward, you use the word more in front of the adjective or adverb instead
of adding “er”.
bright: This light is brighter than that one.
quick: The spaniel is the quicker of my two dogs.
nice: This sweater is nicer than my red sweater.
comfortable: This chair is more comfortable than mine.
53
fast: He walked faster than I did.

soon: They left sooner than we did.
When comparing two things, DO NOT add “er” to adverbs ending in “ly”.
Use the word more in front of the adverb instead.
carefully: Barbara drives more carefully than Pat.
finely: Chop the pepper more finely than the onions.
Usually, the suffix “er” is not added to ANY modifier with more than one
syllable, such as the adjectives beautiful and gorgeous.
beautiful: Today’s sunset is more beautiful than yesterday's.
bravely: He acted more bravely than this brother.
Often, more than two things are compared. Some of the rules change when
comparing more than two things. Instead of adding “er”, add “est”. Do not add
“est” to adverbs ending in “ly”, and use most with modifiers of more than one
syllable.
nice: Our view is the nicest of all the ones on this street.
kind: My math teacher is the kindest I have ever had.
fast: He always drives fastest at night.
sickly: Tom is the most sickly guy I have ever met.
quietly: Of the four, this car's motor runs most quietly.
peaceful: The time I spend at the lake are the most peaceful
hours of my day.
IRREGULAR COMPARISONS•
Some words do not form comparisons simply by adding “er”, “est”, or by
using more or most. These words actually change their form.
Vanilla ice cream tastes good, strawberry tastes better, but chocolate tastes
the best of all.
It is not correct to say gooder, goodest, or more good. Examples of other irregular
modifiers follow.
54
SINGLE FORM COMPARING TWO COMPARING

THREE OR MORE
Little Less Least
Many More Most
Much, some More Most
Well Better Best
Bad, badly Worst Worst
Far Farther, further Farthest, furthest
ABSOLUTE ADJECTIVES
Still other words cannot be used in comparisons, because of their meaning.
These words are called absolute adjectives - words such as, correct and dead. An
answer on a test is either correct, or not correct. It cannot be more correct, or
correcter. If something is dead, it is dead. It cannot be less dead or more dead.
55
EXAMPLES OF ABSOLUTE
ADJECTIVES
complete
conclusive
eternal
final
immaculate
level
perfect
perpendicular
perpetual
right
round
spotless
square
supreme
unanimous
unique
CHOOSING THE CORRECT MODIFIER•

When making comparisons, some writers make mistakes because they can’t
decide whether to use an adjective or an adverb. It is no different than
distinguishing between adjectives and adverbs at any other time. If the word
modifies a noun or a pronoun, an adjective is necessary. If the word modifies a
verb, an adjective, or another adverb, use an adverb.
He is real happy is incorrect. Happy is an adjective and needs an adverb to
modify it. The correct adverb is really; therefore the correct version is
He is really happy.

56
VIII A CLOSER LOOK AT PREPOSITIONS•

Prepositions are little words that show the relationship between
nouns/pronouns or tell when, where, how the action in a verb took place.
Prepositions are always part of a group of words called a prepositional phrase.
Some grammar textbooks list prepositions in two categories: simple and
compound. Review the list of prepositions on page 13 of this module before
continuing. Compound prepositions, sometimes called complex prepositions,
consist of two or more words which are treated as a single unit.
Example: They were standing in the middle of the football field.
in the middle of is the preposition
in the middle of the football field is the complete phrase
Here is a list of some compound prepositions.

in front of the house by means of a tow rope
on top of the hill in addition to their good health
ahead of everyone in spite of his good intentions
except for my sister out of kindness
as far as the gas station
These prepositional phrases can be used as adjectives that modify a noun/pronoun

or as adverbs that modify a verb.
after the accident = prepositional phrase
ù ù
preposition + noun
The noun or pronoun which completes the prepositional phrase is called the
object of the preposition. There are three prepositional phrases in the sentence
below.
The students at Superior School went to the library with her.
at Superior School, to the library, with her
The underlined nouns or pronouns are called the object of the preposition.
Prepositions are also sometimes called connectives because their function in
a sentence is to connect the modifier with the thing it modifies.
Always use the personal pronouns me, you, him, her, it, us, them after a preposition.
Do Exercise 67 and 68 in the Practice Booklet.
57
IX A CLOSER LOOK AT CONJUNCTIONS (BAU- recognition only)

Conjunctions are also joining words and are sometimes called connectives.
A conjunction may join words, phrases or clauses.
TYPES OF CONJUNCTIONS•
A. CO-ORDINATE CONJUNCTIONS•
Co-ordinate conjunctions join words that are the same part of speech: a noun
with a noun; an adjective with an adjective; and so on. There are only seven co-
ordinate conjunctions:
and but or nor

for yet so
Some people use the mnemonic FANBOYS to remember them.
The cat and the dog always eat and sleep together (2 nouns; 2 verbs)
After the hike and before dinner, they peeled vegetables and told stories.
(2 prepositional phrases; 2 verbs)
The young and restless children ran quickly and effortlessly.
(2 adjectives; 2 adverbs)
The girls sang, and the boys danced. (2 complete ideas)
I want to go, but I can’t find the time. (2 ideas)
You can write a report, or you can make a speech. (2 ideas)
I can’t finish this dessert, nor* can I drink my coffee. (2 ideas)
She couldn’t attend school, for she had no money. (2 ideas)
He always gets lost, yet he never carries a map. (2 ideas)
It rained, so they cancelled the outing. (2 ideas)
* Notice how the word order changes when this conjunction is used.
B. CORRELATIVE CONJUNCTIONS
This small group of joining words are similar to co-ordinate conjunctions, but
they are always used in pairs.
not only/but also
Example: Harold was not only late, but also at the wrong address.
58
neither/nor
Example: Harold was neither on time, nor at the right address.
either/or
Example: Harold was either late, or lost.
whether/or
Example: I don't care whether Harold gets here or not.
both/and
Example: Both Harold and Steve arrived two hours late.
C. CONJUNCTIVE ADVERBS
Conjunctive adverbs are used to join two complete sentences that are very
closely related in meaning.
Lightning struck the old farmhouse.
The old farmhouse burned to the ground.
Although these could be two unconnected events, in this case, the house burned
down because it was struck by lightning. A writer might choose to say
Lightning struck the old farmhouse; therefore, it burned to the ground.
Lightning struck the old farmhouse; consequently, it burned to the ground.
When a conjunctive adverb is used to join two complete sentences, place a semi-
colon in front of it and a comma after it.
Here is a list of some common conjunctive adverbs.
therefore moreover thus
consequently as a result however
nevertheless hence otherwise
besides anyway instead
meanwhile furthermore still
If these words do not join two complete ideas, they are adverbs. Compare
It snowed last night; therefore, we didn’t go.
We did, however, call them to explain.
Do Exercise 69 in the Practice Booklet before continuing.
59
D. SUBORDINATE CONJUNCTIONS•
Another group of words are often used as conjunctions. These are called
subordinate conjunctions. They are used to join two ideas which otherwise would
require two separate sentences.
She was confused. She didn’t ask any questions.
Although she was confused, she didn’t ask any questions.
The road was slippery. The truck drivers stopped carefully.
The truck drivers stopped carefully because the road was slippery.
I will be able to come sometime. I am not sure when that time will be.
I am not sure when I will be able to come.
Here are some examples of other subordinate conjunctions at work.

We stopped at the grocery store after we bought gas.
If I were you, I would start studying now.
Since she got that job, she hasn’t been able to go to school.
You won’t be able to write your GED unless you sign up now.
As soon as you can, make sure Mark is alright.
Her boyfriend will do whatever she asks.
Notice that every sentence that contains a subordinate conjunction has at least two
complete verb phrases. Module 6 explains this in more detail.
Here are some common subordinate conjunctions.
after* since * whether
although while where
as than* why
as if though when
because unless how
before* until*
even if if
The words with an asterisk (*) may sometimes be used as prepositions. You must
look at the sentence carefully to determine whether these words are used as
prepositions or conjunctions. If the word is a preposition it will be followed by only
a noun or pronoun. If it is a subordinate conjunction it will be followed by a noun
and a verb. Module 6, Parts of the Sentence gives more details on identifying
subordinate conjunctions. Look at the following sentences and decide which
contain subordinate conjunctions and which have prepositions.
60
Before the party started, we went to the store.

Before the game, they bought popcorn and a drink.
Because she lost her wallet, she couldn’t go to the concert.
Because of her loss, she was unable to afford the plane ticket.
Since I won the lottery, I decided to buy a new car.
Since the election, the politicians have stayed in Fredericton.
The best way to learn how to identify conjunctions is to practise.
Do Practice Exercise 70 in the Practice Booklet.
E. RELATIVE PRONOUNS
Relative pronouns, which you learned in the pronoun section, are also used
as conjunctions. These words are relative pronouns: who, whom, which, that,
whomever, whichever. Do not confuse them with interrogative pronouns, used to
start a question or pronouns.
Example: That club always has good entertainment. (Demonstrative adjective)
That is a good idea! (Demonstrative pronoun)
Ivan said that he will be working. (Relative pronoun)
What did you say? (Interrogative pronoun)

They guessed what I was giving them for Christmas. (Relative pronoun)
Who is the designated driver? (Interrogative pronoun)

The driver who was hired last week was laid off. (Relative pronoun)
Most students need more practice identifying prepositions and conjunctions

than can be provided in any one textbook. All grammar books contain exercises
suitable for extra practice. It is the student’s responsibility to decided when he/she
needs extra work and to locate the practice exercises he/she needs. The instructor
may suggest sources for supplementary work. You can practice identifying parts of
speech using sentences from the newspaper or magazines. You can write your own
or trade with a class mate. As well, any of the exercises in the Practice Exercises
Booklet may be used to practice identifying parts of speech.

61
X INTERJECTIONS•
Interjections are the eighth and final part of speech. Interjections are
exclamations and may be followed by an exclamation point (!) or a comma. They
are straightforward and simple to use because they are not related to any other word
in the sentence.
Whew! Ouch!
Oh! My goodness!
Eek! Yuck!
Wow, did you see The Grateful Dead concert.
Boy, that was a funny episode with Robin Williams.
Wow! Yikes! Yippee! Hey!

I just won the lottery!
62
XI SOME COMMON GRAMMAR MISTAKES•
Boy, it is some cold today! Boy, it is very cold today.

Boy, it is real cold today! Boy, it is really cold today.
Some is a pronoun or and adjective and cannot modify an adjective. This sentence
needs an adverb to modify the adjective cold and show how cold it is. Use very
cold.
If he had went home sooner, he wouldn’t have missed dinner.

If he had gone home sooner, he wouldn’t have missed dinner.
The verb phrase is incorrectly constructed. The verb phrase had went is meant to
be in the past perfect tense. The past perfect is constructed using the past
participle from Column III, not the past form from Column II. Use had gone.
I done well on that test. I did well on that test.

The form of the verb tense is incorrect. This sentence requires the simple past tense
which created using the form from Column II. Done is the past participle form
taken from Column III. Use the simple past form did.
The pictures should of been ready by now.

The pictures should have been ready by now.
The verb phrase is incorrect. Of is a preposition and does not belong in a verb
phrase. This verb phrase requires the auxiliary have.
I ain’t finished yet. I’m not finished yet.

There is no such word as ain’t anymore.
Bob said, “Very best, I’ll go with you next week”.

Bob said, “Of course, I’ll go with you next week.
English does not include the phrase very best. It is a translation of the French très
bien and does not belong in a correct English sentence. Use a phrase like Of
course.
Fran had did her best on that test. Fran did her best on that test.
The verb phrase is incorrectly constructed. The verb phrase had did is meant to be
in the simple past tense. The simple past is constructed using the principal part of
verb from Column II. Use did.
63
Polly was real pleased with her new dress.

Polly was really pleased with her new dress.
Real is an adjective and cannot be used to modify another adjective. This sentence
needs an adverb to modify the adjective pleased and show how pleased Polly was.
Use really pleased.
The officer which stopped me for speeding gave me a warning.

The officer who stopped me for speeding gave me a warning.
The relative pronoun which can only be used to refer to things. The officer is
obviously a person, so the correct pronoun is either who or that.
He is sure late with his payment this month.

Sure is an adjective and cannot be used to modify another adjective late. This
sentence needs an adverb to modify the adjective late and show how late he was.
Use certainly late, really late, or very late.
He is the tallest of my two boys.

He is the taller of my two boys.
The word tallest is used to compare more than two things. In this sentence, only
two things are being compared; therefore, the correct form of the word is taller.
CONCLUSION
Getting rid of all the grammar mistakes in your writing and speaking will help
you progress more quickly. “Unlearning” something you have said all your life is
not easy. Start by identifying the kinds of mistakes you make without realizing it.
Keep a section of your notebook for the explanations and corrections of your
personal grammar problems that is set up like the one above.
A final word of advice before you move on to Module 6, Parts of the
Sentence. Be sure that you are comfortable with the parts of speech and can
accurately identify them at least 80% of the time. If you understand parts of speech
well, learning about parts of the sentence will be much easier.
Do another self-evaluation? What do you think you should do next?

Review? Write a pre-test? Find more practice exercises?
64
FEEDBACK PROCESS
For feedback, please forward your comments to:
New Brunswick Community College - Woodstock

100 Broadway Street
Woodstock, NB
E7M 5C5
Attention: Kay Curtis

Tel.: 506-325-4866 Fax.: 506-328-8426
* In case of errors due to typing, spelling, punctuation or any proofreading errors, please
use the enclosed page to make the proposed correction using red ink and send it to us.
* For feedback regarding the following items, please use the form below:
- insufficient explanations;
- insufficient examples;
- ambiguity or wordiness of text;
- relevancy of the provided examples;
- others...
Page Nature of the problem Proposed solution

number (include your text if possible)
65
FEEDBACK PROCESS
Page Nature of the problem Proposed solution

number (include your text if possible)
Comments:
ACADEMIC STUDIES
ENGLISH
Supplementary Exercises
GRAMMAR: PART I
Parts of Speech
FALL 1998
1
Exercise 1: Nouns
Copy these sentences into your notebook and then underline all the nouns you can
find. Check your answers in the answer key.
1. The dog chased the cat under the porch.
2. Muffins made with blueberries are delicious.
3. My daughter sold her computer to a friend.
4. Robert drove his car to Saint John and shopped for a new truck.
5. So much snow covered the roads, that even truck drivers pulled into motels.
6. The passengers on the ship witnessed the collision with the iceberg.
7. The Titanic sank in a few hours; many husbands and wives were separated.
8. Penguins live near the South Pole, but these birds aren’t bothered by the cold.
9. Many retired couples move to Florida where the weather is warmer.
10. Shediac is closer to the Confederation Bridge than Riverview is.
Exercise 2: Nouns
A. Copy these sentences into your notebook and then underline the nouns.
1. From the top of a small hill, we saw the Northumberland Strait.
2. The ocean was calm, and the clouds were beautiful.
3. Then, the little boats began to appear.
4. The fishermen were out checking their traps for lobster.
5. Many people in this area spend most of their lives on the sea.
6. Local markets are full of mussels, clams, scallops, and lobster.
7. In small villages, canneries prepare seafood for shipment to Japan.
8. When their boats are full, the fishermen return to their harbours for the night.
9. If the weather is good, their catch is usually large.
10. Storms make life on the water dangerous.
B. Write 10 sentences of your own. Underline all the nouns you used.
Exercise 3: Pronouns
Copy these sentences into your notebook, and then underline all the pronouns you
can find in this exercise.
1. Many of them came, but few stayed long.
2. Give everybody something to eat before they leave.
3. What did you bring with you?
4. Did they teach themselves how to speak German?
5. After she cut herself, she went for a tetanus shot.
2
6. All of those are expensive.

7. Who likes chocolate?
8. The stones on the beach were green, but these are pink.
9. None of us was frightened by that.
10. He gave her several bottles of this.
A. Copy these sentences into your notebook and then underline the pronouns.
1. Who told us that no one would be at the mall?
2. This belongs to her.
3. She never gave them any of it.
4. Phillip called to tell them about that.
5. What did you give him and his wife for Christmas?
6. We always welcome suggestions.
7. Mine was destroyed by the flood, but the insurance covered it.
8. Give me some!
9. They told about the hardships we survived.
10. Many told about the kindness of strangers.
B. Write 10 sentences of your own. Underline all the pronouns you used.
Exercise 5: Verbs
Copy these sentences in your notebook and then underline the verbs.
1. The pitcher threw the ball.
2. The robin perched on a lower branch.
3. Seagulls flew lazily in the light breeze.
4. The New Brunswick flag cost five dollars.
5. He dreamed about his recent accident.
6. Melissa always walks to work in the morning.
7. She often rode the bus home at night.
8. His parents thought about him every day.
9. The Christmas tree looked beautiful.
10. The lions slept in the sun for hours.
Exercise 6: Verbs
Copy these sentences in your notebook and then underline the verbs.
1. Sue sat on the bench as we were jogging through the park.
2. John ate his lunch slowly.
3
3. He was enjoying a ham and cheese sandwich.

4. After work, we decided on a movie.
5. Since his accident, he has been driving more carefully.
6. You will never guess the answer.
7. Are you reading that magazine, or have you finished it?
8. Lucy will send you her new address.
9. Finally, the dealer agreed to our price.
10. Everyone wants a lucky lottery ticket.
Exercise 7: Verbs
A. Copy these sentences in your notebook and then underline the verbs.
1. We learned about the effects of the storm from Norma.
2. Many branches had been broken by the wind.
3. Heavy icy was still bringing down many power lines.
4. Only a few people could stay in their houses without electricity.
5. After three days, food became scarce.
6. Volunteers arrived with emergency supplies.
7. People from nearby communities brought many loads of firewood.
8. Soon, life was returning to normal.
9. They are calling it the storm of the century.
10. We hope that we will not have another ice storm this year.
B. Write a paragraph about an exciting event. Underline all the verbs you used.
Exercise 8: Adjectives
A. Copy these sentences in your notebook and then underline the adjectives
1. The little girl ran along the dusty road.
2. Six delicious cookies were cooling on the rack.
3. The dark brown painted dripped on the new white carpet.
4. A beautiful red rose bloomed in a quiet corner of that flower garden.
5. The old curtains were torn and faded, and they flapped in the light breeze.
6. After a few hours, they arrived at the train station, nine miles from Minto.
7. The hockey arena is located on Water Street beside the steel mill.
8. They used paper plates for the annual picnic.
9. These apples are juicy and red.
10. The long summer months are usually hot and dry.
B. Use the paragraph you wrote in Exercise 7B. Rewrite it using enough adjectives
4
to make your reader see the scene clearly. Underline the adjectives you used.
Exercise 9: Adverbs
Copy these sentences in your notebook and then underline the adverbs.
1. They arrived early for class.
2. Can you come soon?
3. She placed the crystal vase carefully on the table.
4. You cannot drive there!
5. The bus will arrive here at noon tomorrow.
6. Yesterday, the strikers blocked the driveway effectively
7. Rick gave his girlfriend an extremely expensive gift.
8. Kate is a truly courageous woman.
9. They finished their work surprisingly quickly.
10. The weather turned really hot at the beach during this last week.
Exercise 10: Adverbs

Copy these sentences in your notebook and then underline the adverbs.
1. Computers are relatively new devices.
2. Many businesses use them daily.
3. Today, very fast computers are needed.
4. They produce statistics quickly and accurately.
5. Generally, they are quite easy to use.
6. Many people have never used a computer.
7. The baby has been very cranky lately.
8. Finally, she wrote the very last sentence correctly.
9. She smiled brightly and said that she was really sorry.
10. Politely, he asked for a second helping.
Exercise 11: Prepositions

Copy these sentences in your notebook and then underline the prepositions. Draw a
circle around the nouns or pronouns that complete the prepositional phrase.
1. Put your coats on the bed in the guest room.
2. Paula walked through the park and then turned towards home.
3. She hid the presents behind the desk and under the stairs.
4. The colour of her dress was really flattering.
5. The books on airplanes were placed beside those on trains.
5
6. The chairs on the porch were painted white.

7. Guests with tickets entered first.
8. The sap from maple trees is boiled into a syrup.
9. We saw six pheasant on the road to Stanley.
10. The man with the long scarf just robbed the store in the mall.

Copy these sentences in your notebook. Underline the prepositions, circle the
nouns/pronouns that complete them, and then decide whether the prepositional
phrase is used as an adjective or an adverb.
1. My aunt in Sackville gave several of the antiques to Gene.
2. The camp beside ours was built in 1966 by John’s brother.
3. Since the crash, many of the survivors have received cash settlements.
4. In his new movie, Brad Pitt drives a car from Toronto to Los Angeles.
5. The time of day doesn’t matter.
6. The supervisor questioned the quality of her work.
7. A few of our friends from school arrived for supper at Julie’s.
8. None of the items on that page are available until July.
9. In 1992, most of the money disappeared.
10. The mine owners from Germany sold all of it to them.
Exercise 13: Interjections

Copy these sentences in your notebook and then underline the interjections.
1. Wow, did you see that jet!
2. Oh no! He lost the puck.
3. Ouch! That hurts.
4. No! Don’t touch the brake.
5. Yuck, I hate boiled cabbage.
Exercise 14: Conjunctions

Copy these sentences in your notebook. Underline the conjunctions. Then indicate
whether they are joining words, or groups of words (phrases), or complete ideas
(clauses).
1. Apples and oranges are good for you.
2. It was a life and death situation.
3. Look under the table and in the closet.
6
4. I wanted to travel quickly and cheaply, but I couldn’t get a ride.

5. We bought the tickets, so we went to the concert.
6. After we saw a deer, we drove to Doaktown.
7. Before he gets sicker, he should go to the doctor.
8. We sent you a full and complete refund when you asked for it.
9. We ran home because it was raining.
10. Until the snow melts, we will have to stay home.
Exercise 15 Conjunctions
Copy these sentences in your notebook and then underline the conjunctions.
1. Although she missed the bus, she and Lily still arrived on time.
2. Andy bought it because he liked it yet he never wore it.
3. Betty or Fran will bring the books which you wanted.
4. The waiter who served our lunch was really nice but slow.
5. I saw the nests that the robins built both on the porch and in the tree.
6. Until we see it, we won’t believe it.
7. If you are ready, we can leave so we will be on time.
8. When they had finished, they gave it to the teacher.
9. Roller blades and skateboards are very popular.
10. CDs are great because they have good quality sound.
Exercise 16: Review

Identify the part of speech of every word in each sentence.
1. Carol and I travelled to Alberta last year.
2. Our friends in Calgary were surprised when we arrived.
3. The tall, majestic Rocky Mountains are a truly beautiful sight.
4. Their house was built in 1990.
5. No, you should not take your new camera on your trip.
6. We jogged quickly through the dark woods.
7. Most of the students listened politely.
8. She was giving a short but interesting lecture.
9. We bought a very small quantity of food yesterday.
10. The wind was cold, but the sun was really warm.
11. This book cost six dollars.
12. Sheila and he were talking to her when it happened.
13. The American fishermen caught two salmon for lunch.
14. Turn at the lights and go two blocks west.
7
15. Eric and they learned very quickly.
Exercise 17: Common and Proper Nouns

a. Copy the following sentences into your notebook.
b. Underline all the nouns.
c. Create two columns in your notebook: one for common nouns and one for
proper nouns. Place each noun you underlined in the appropriate column.
1. Moonlight flickered on the dried leaves on the path from Black Lake.
2. Marsha sent a parcel to her sister in Regina.
3. Bathurst is a small city on the Bay of Chaleur.
4. Robin and his family moved to Alberta when the mill closed.
5. Do most people in Italy read the newspaper on the weekend?
6. English is a language with many exceptions to the rules of grammar.
7. Maple syrup is produced in rural areas of North America.
8. The hockey arena in Beresford is located near the main street.
9. Early settlers to the Gaspé came from France and England.
10. The stores on Main Street are planning a large sale and carnival to boost their
profits.

Write ten sentences of your own. Underline all the nouns you used and identify
each as either a common or proper noun. Your instructor will correct your work.
Exercise 19: Concrete and Abstract Nouns

Divide the words in this exercise into two lists: concrete nouns and abstract nouns.
rose justice
happiness cow
school truth
computer grace
skiing stars
bubbles fear
8
Exercise 20: Collective Nouns

For each of the collective nouns below, write two sentences. The first should
describe the group acting as a single impersonal unit; the second should describe the
group as a collection of people acting as individuals.
family couple class staff crowd
Exercise 21: Mass Nouns

Decide which of these sentences using mass nouns needs correction. Write the
corrected form in your notebook.
1. Owen has a great deal of assignments to do this week.
2. There was a lot of traffic in town over the holidays.
3. A large amount of deer were shot this season.
4. Ann receives too many junk mail.
5. They bought several rings at the auction.
Exercise 22: Possessive Nouns

A Record the possessive nouns in the following sentences in your notebook.
1. Mary’s house is on the corner of Jones and Water Streets.
2. Have you seen the dog’s leash?
3. He received three months’ back pay yesterday.
4. Sue’s friends bought her a sweater in the men’s department.
5. Each of the boy’s bicycles was locked.
B Reword each of the following phrases, using apostrophes.

the book belonging to the children the biggest fans of Elvis
the meeting for the secretaries the memos sent by the bosses
the car belonging to my oldest son the mens department
the schedule for the buses the paws of the cats
the barking of the coyote the pay for two weeks

The following sentences contain some words that need apostrophes to show
possession. Rewrite the sentences in your notebook and include apostrophes where
necessary.
1. Bobs uncle lives near Sharons farm.

9
2. Charles company owed him two days pay.

3. Marthas sister was worried about her sons health. (one son)
4. Mr. Smith was worried about her sons health. (two sons)
5. The childs name is Nora, and the familys name is Boudreau.
6. City Councils regular meetings are held on Mondays.
7. The students cafeteria will be closed after next weeks graduation.
8. Mr. Childs car was being serviced at Eatons.
9. The womens resumés were sent to the companies head offices by the bosses
secretary.
10. Marks mother lives at my sisters, but the companys salesman went to my
cousins place.

If you had more than two mistakes in Exercise 22, read the section on apostrophes
again. Then try these sentences.
1. My uncles farmhouse was struck by during last summers storm. (two uncles)
2. The girls hair had been cut short for the twins wedding. (one girl, two twins)
3. A March snow storm is sometimes called “winters last lament”.
4. Have you seen Mel Gibsons last three movies?
5. The skateboarders park had to be closed for repairs to its half pipes.
6. Because of the accident, his wifes income was reduced.
7. Did you see the dragsters collide on Old Oak Road yesterday?
8. Finish your clients reports before you go to Smiths tonight. (one client)
9. Frank and James mail order business is making them a rich mans fortune.
10. The suns rays are too dangerous for us to sit on these lawn chairs for too long!

Write ten sentences of your own. Each sentence should include at least one
possessive noun. Make sure your instructor corrects your work before you continue
with this module.
10
Exercise 26: A Review of Nouns

Use this review test to check out how well you have learned the grammar points
presented so far in this module. As you work through the test, do not look back at
the material in the module, and do not peek at the answer key. When you have
completed the test, mark your own work, or ask your instructor to mark it for you.
If you had any mistakes, you should review the parts of this section that gave you
“trouble” thoroughly by doing more exercises and/or finding more explanations of
the point(s) in another text book. When you are satisfied that you really understand,
try this test again.
1. Read the following sentence.

That is the new car belonging to my neighbour.
A correct possessive form of the noun would be
A. The new car is my neighbours'.
B. That is my neighbours' new car.
C. That is my neighbour's new car.
D. That new car is my neighbour.
2. Name the eight (8) parts of speech.

There have been many accidents on the Centennial Bridge which connects
Chatham with Ferry Road.
The proper nouns in the sentence are
A. Centennial Bridge, Chatham, accidents.
B. Centennial Bridge, Chatham, Ferry Road.
C. Centennial Bridge, Chatham, accidents, Ferry Road.
D. accidents, Ferry, Chatham, Bridge, Road, connects.
4. Rewrite the following sentences to make the nouns in bold print possessive.
A. Laura is the oldest sister of Pam.
B. This is the store belonging to Doris.
C. I do not like the apartment belonging to Cheryl Hastings.
D. Those toys belong to the children.
E. The police wrote down the descriptions given by the witnesses.
5. What is a noun?
11

Our friends lived in Halifax, Nova Scotia, before they moved to this town.
The nouns in the sentence are
A. friends, Halifax, Nova Scotia, this.
B. Nova Scotia, Halifax, town.
C. friends, town, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
D. friends, Halifax, Nova Scotia, they, town, this.
7. Give a proper noun for each of the following common nouns.

A. soda pop
B. city
C. river
D. holiday
E. magazine
8. Write a common noun for each proper noun given below.

A. January
B. Canada
C. Saint John
D. Jupiter
E. Dr. Parker
9. There are errors in SOME of the following sentences. Rewrite only the
sentences you think are incorrect, correcting the errors.
A. The flower's petals fell to the floor.
B. I had a great time last St. Patricks Day.
C. The Morrisons just returned from two weeks' vacation.
D. Do you remember when ten cents worth of candy was enough to share
with your friend's?
E. There is a burn mark on the chair's arm.
11. For each word below indicate whether it is

a) common or proper
b) concrete or abstract
c) singular or plural
d) count or non-count
e) indicate which nouns are collective and/or possessive.
12
The first one is done for you. Church: common, concrete, singular, count
church mice mob

beauty Canada’s news
armies meat equipment
boys’ loyalty jury
grammar March fragrance
men’s company surprise
trouble English horn sunrise
boy’s Lions’ Club broccoli
Exercise 27: Personal Pronouns

List all the personal pronouns in the following sentences in your notebook.
1. Did you give him his book?
2. I saw them eating their lunch myself.
3. He may have taken her coat, but mine is on the desk.
4. Cheryl gave her cold to them.
5. My sister, her husband and their children visited your mother.
Exercise 28: Personal Pronouns - Person, Number, Gender

A. Practice the terms above by matching the term in the first column with the
examples in the second column.
1. First person plural A. I, me, my, mine, myself
2. Third person singular B. They, them, their, theirs, themselves
3. Second person plural C. We, us, our, ours, ourselves
4. Third person plural D. She, her, hers, herself
5. First person singular E. You, your, yours, yourself
F. You, your, yours, yourselves
B. Write each personal pronoun in the sentences below in your notebook.

Beside each, write its person and number . For third person singular pronouns also
include the gender. Try not to look at the chart above.
1. When I went to the club last night, they took my jacket and your camera.
2. They didn’t know it was theirs until they saw its label.
3. Where are you going with her tapes. You should take yours.
4. They say that we should always mind our own business.
13
Exercise 29: Possessive Personal Pronouns

Use each of the seven sets of possessive pronouns in a separate sentence. The first
set is done for you. Notice that the pronouns my, your, his, her, its, our, your,
their, whose are always followed by a noun. The pronouns mine, yours, his, hers,
ours, yours, theirs are used alone.
Have you seen my raincoat? That raincoat isn’t mine

Write 10 sentences of your own. Each must contain at least one possessive
pronoun. Be sure to underline every personal pronoun you use. Then identify the
pronoun by person and number (i.e. 3rd person singular).
Exercise 31: Pronoun Selection

The following exercise will help identify the problems you have selecting the
appropriate pronoun. Rewrite the sentence in your notebook, using the correct
pronoun. After finishing all the sentences, check the answers in the answer key.
1. John and (he, him) went to a meeting
2. They were sure that Lisa and (he, him) were going to Miramichi.
3. Jerry took his brother and (she, her) to town.
4. (You, Yous) are all invited to go to the concert in Moncton.
5. Give the pencil to Martha or (I, me)!
6. Do you think that (he, him) and (I, me) could go to the game?
7. Students often think that (you, they) will fail, but (you, they) have to keep
trying.
8. I do not want (those, them) sneakers because of (their, they’re) ugly colour.
9. (It’s, its) nest was destroyed and (it’s, its) not likely to return.
10. A student must try to find (his, her, their) own learning modality.
11. Mom divided the Halloween candy between Stacey and (me, I).
12. (You’re, Your) hard work means that (you’re, your) going to pass.
14

Improve the following paragraph. Rewrite it so that it is easier and more interesting
to read. Be sure to replace some of the nouns with pronouns.
Tim Maxwell recently purchased a car. Tim Maxwells car is a 1989 Buick
LeSabre. Although the car of Tim Maxwell is not a new car, the 1989 Buick
LeSabre had not been driven very far when Tim Maxwell bought the car. The
1989 Buick LeSabre had travelled only 800 kilometres! Eight hundred
kilometres is not very many kilometres for a car as old as the car of Tim
Maxwell. The car of Tim Maxwell is just like a new car. The car of Tim
Maxwell had been in an old lady's garage since the old lady's husband died in
early 1990.

Each of the following sentences contains one or more pronouns. If the WRONG
pronoun is used in a sentence, REWRITE the sentence, using the correct pronoun.
If a sentence is CORRECT, leave it as it is.
EXAMPLE: Mary gave she the keys.
Rewrite the sentence, using the right pronoun -
Mary gave her the keys.
1. Al met John and she at the movies.

2. Laura and she had hamburgers for lunch.
3. I took them clothes to the cleaners yesterday.
4. We sent her some flowers.
5. Mary drove Paul and I to the mall.
6. Leo and her gave yous the coffee money Monday.
7. Could him and me could go to the game?
8. You and your husband should prepare yourself for some bad news.
9. They kept the secret from Jack and I.
10. The man standing outside in the rain is him.
11. Jane’s best friend is me.
12. Them people pushed in line ahead of me!
15

Rewrite the following sentences, replacing the underlined word or words with an
appropriate pronoun.
1. The boys tried out for the football team.
2. Tracy's children are giving Tracy a surprise party.
3. The dog belonging to you has run away again.
4. The blue coat in your closet is a coat belonging to me.
5. The dog's ears are pointed.
Exercise 35: Pronouns and Antecedents

A. Explain in your own words what an antecedent is.
B. Rewrite these sentences in your notebook. Draw an arrow from the
antecedent to the noun it replaces.
1. The president should take his office seriously.
2. Some managers write their business letters themselves.
3. The students asked for new books. The instructor will give them those.
4. The jury were presenting their opinions.
5. Our family is not large. It gathers once a year for a reunion.
6. One of the girls will receive her trophy at the banquet.
7. My family are always ready to support their relatives.
8. We ourselves were happy to participate.
9. The merchants gave donations. These will be used to buy Christmas toys.
10. A student should always be on time for his or her class.
Exercise 36 : Pronouns and Antecedents

Rewrite the following sentences so the meaning is clearer.
1. Philip gave her her present.
2. Norm and Al filled his basket with apples from Fredericton.
3. The class asked their mother to help at the bake sale.
4. The police officer told him that he deserved the ticket, and he should pay it.
5. The audience clapped for their performance.
16
Exercise 37: Indefinite Pronouns

Complete the following sentences by choosing the correct pronoun. Write each
corrected sentence in your notebook.
1. Does anybody know (his or her, their) Social Insurance Number?
2. Each of those buyers should consult (his, her, his or her, their) supervisors.
3. Max and Helen sang at (her, his, their) mutual friends' wedding.
4. None of the boys has paid for (his, their) own bus ticket.
5. Several of the men have paid (his, her, his or her, their) dues.
6. No one should submit (his or her, their) report later than tomorrow.
7. The deer hurt (her, his, its) leg when it jumped the fence.
8. A few forgot (his, her, his or her, their) lunches.
9. Many hens have escaped from (her, their) pen.
10. A few of us have received (his, her, her or his, their, our) marks.
Exercise 38: Demonstrative Pronouns

A. Underline the demonstrative pronouns in these sentences.
1. This is the one I want to buy.
2. Did he really say that?
3. Such cannot be true!
4. Give me all of these and some of those.
5. Whose book is that on the floor?
B. Write at least five sentences of your own that use demonstrative pronouns.
Be sure that they are not attached to a noun. You will learn about the use of
this, that, these, and those as describing words later.
e.g. Write This is mine. Do not write This book is mine
Exercise 39: Reflexive, Emphatic, Reciprocal Pronouns

Underline the all the reflexive, emphatic and reciprocal pronouns used in the
following sentences. Then tell which is which.
1. He cut himself when she was cleaning the kitchen.
2. The soldiers hoisted each other over the stone wall.
3. Wash the car yourself this time.
4. The players patted one another on the back after they scored.
5. You will have to drive yourself to the hospital.
6. I myself won’t put up with that.
17
7. Marg and Steve built their new house themselves.

8. She limited herself to less than 1600 calories a day.
9. A nurse should protect himself or herself from infectious diseases.
10. We laughed when we watched ourselves on TV.
Exercise 40: Interrogative Pronouns

Underline only the interrogative pronouns in the following sentences.
1. Who stole the money?
2. What did you bring for lunch?
3. The man who won is my friend Steve.
4. He hasn’t decided what he wants to do next.
5. Whom should we reward?
6. Which of them belongs to Marla?
7. Ian is the one who knows that.
8. Which is the fastest way to the airport?
9. What have you done with the keys?
10. He said many things which I didn’t understand.
Exercise 41: Review of Pronouns

A. Read this entire section on types of pronouns again, making notes as you go.
How many different groups of pronouns are there? What is the first letter in
the name of each group? As a mnemonic to help you learn all these names,
can you create a catch word or silly sentence using these first letters.
B. List all the pronouns in the following sentences. Beside each one give as
much information as you can about it.
1. When you talk about that accident, it always gives me the shivers.
2. The children themselves saw it.
3. What would anyone do with that?
4. She asked herself if any of the dresses really suited her.
5. He reported to his boss that those which you bought were too expensive.
6. That is definitely the kind of book that someone like you would read.
7. The dealer totalled their bill and then asked them how they would pay it.
8. My first attempt was a failure, but later I had learned from it.
9. Which is right? There are two choices; both of them look correct.
10. The furniture was destroyed, but the house itself was undamaged.
18

Underline and identify each pronoun used in these sentences.
1. All of my friends saw that movie starring Whoopi Goldberg.
2. Who brought the ketchup and mustard for the hotdogs?
3. Did they give themselves a pre-test before writing that exam?
4. You didn’t give that to them, did you?
5. The couple who just arrived on the plane kissed each other.
6. Sherri took your boots, but he took mine.
7. We can tell you who leaked that information to the press!
8. We did most of the work ourselves, but the contractor poured the cement.
9. Always ask yourselves, “What can I do to help those less fortunate?”
10. Something is missing from this recipe.

1. Match the term on the left with the example on the right.
1. 1st person plural A. these

2. interrogative pronoun B. each other
3. reciprocal pronoun C. our
4. relative pronoun D. its
5. indefinite pronoun (plural) E. everybody
6. demonstrative pronoun F. what
7. indefinite pronoun (singular) G. themself
8. possessive pronoun H. himself
9. reflexive pronoun I. which
10. a word that doesn’t exist J. its
K. few
2. What is the function of a pronoun?
3. Rewrite these sentences using the correct form of the pronoun.
a. Sheila and (her, she) went to the automatic teller.

b. He cut (himself, hisself) on that rusty can.
c. Have you read the article in the Times Transcript about you and (I, me).
d. The dog (who, which) is barking lives next door.
e. The cat often chases (it’s, its) tail.
19
f. Be sure and tell her where (your, you’re) house is.

g. Mr. Hutchins bought (their, there, they’re) old car.
h. Don’t buy (those, them) shoes; (they’re, their, there) too expensive.
i. My aunt always sends a card to Angela and (he, him).
j. She says that Jimmy and the boys usually cut the wood (themselves, themself)
4. Write a paragraph (about 6 or 7 sentences) about a pet. Underline every

pronoun you have used.
5. After Bill gave his employees their bonus, he told them to spend it wisely.
Which statement below is not correct.

A. it is the antecedent of bonus.
B. Bill is the antecedent of he
C. employees is the antecedent of them
D. bonus is the antecedent of it
6. Which sentence below is correct?
A. Everyone should buy their own hockey equipment.

B. Volunteers, give yourself a hand for a great fundraising effort.
C. Do you think there house is big enough?
D. The cab drove Mike and me to the airport.
7. Which group of words below correctly completes this sentence.

After the holidays,
A. us and the kids returned to Rexton.
B. we and the kids returned to Rexton.
C. the kids and ourselves returned to Rexton.
D. the kids and them returned to Rexton.
20
8. For each underlined pronoun, identify its type and give as much information
about it as you can.
A. Few of them knew the right answer.
B. Those are mine.
C. The companies which produce these CDs handle their advertising
themselves.
D. Who knows anything about this?
E. Buy yourself something expensive.
Exercise 44: Action Verbs

A. Write ten sentences that use verbs that express a physical action that can be
observed.
B. Think of some other verbs that express a mental action. Use each one in a
sentence. Ask your instructor to review your work. Remember even if the verb is
expressing a mental action, it is classed as an action verb.
Exercise 45: Linking Verbs

Write at least 10 sentences that use linking verbs. Check with your instructor to
make sure you have used only linking verbs in your sentences.
Exercise 46: Action Verbs and Linking Verbs

Copy these sentences into your notebook. Then underline the verbs. For each verb
that you identify, indicate whether it is an action or a linking verb.
1. The dog jumped over the fence.
2. The baseball hit the boy in the face.
3. His car smashed into a bridge.
4. We watched a movie last night.
5. The students were happy about their marks.
6. My sister’s name is Paula.
7. Mr. Smyth was my uncle.
8. They will be angry about your forgetfulness.
9. We were afraid of the storm.
10. We feared the storm.
11. The little mouse squeaked loudly.
12. There were fourteen people in that class last year.
13. My old roommate from college drove to Fredericton last night.
21
14. The policeman believed their every word about the robbery.
15. The puppy carefully tasted his new food.

In your notebook, identify the verbs in the following sentences and record whether
they are action or linking verbs.
1. The pie smells good.
2. He looks taller than Mario.
3. The sailors looked intently at the horizon for signs of another ship.
4. The children became excited before the snow storm.
5. Because of the dust, we coughed all day.
6. You know my aunt, the bookkeeper at Colpitt’s.
7. Close the door to the garage, please.
8. He felt the smoothness of the fur pelt with his hand.
9. I felt sick after the party.
10. Wolves always howl at the moon.
11. She fell down the stairs and broke her leg.
12. Madonna sings and dances well.
13. Suddenly, he slammed the door and drove down the lane.
14. That newspaper publishes editions in both Toronto and Vancouver.
15. This stew tastes good on a cold winter’s night.

The verbs smell, taste, feel, grow, sound, and look can be used as both action and
linking verbs. Write two sentences for each verb: one with an action verb, the other
with a linking or copula verb.
Exercise 49: Auxiliary Verbs and Main Verbs

In your notebook, indicate the main verb in each of the following sentences, and
the auxiliary or helping verb(s), if any. You may want to create a chart like the
one on the next page.
22
SENTENCE MAIN HELPING

VERB VERB(S)
(IF ANY)
1. Heather will rarely drive the car in winter.
2. He must have taken my jacket by mistake.
3. We played ball against their team Saturday.
4. That would have confused anyone!
5. Would you please flip the hamburgers?
6. There was a good show on TV last night.
7. Mitchell has lived here all his life.
8. I will not be going, not after the last trip.
9. The men should have eaten that supper by now.
10. The washing machine has broken down.
11. Have you ever heard such nonsense.
12. He might have consulted a doctor.
13. Sue may never have been given that letter.
14. I shall never agree to his proposal.
15. A child can easily learn this song.
Exercise 50: Identifying Verb Tenses

Name the verb tenses in the following sentences.
1. Today, Carl kicks the ball across the field.
2. Today, Carl is kicking the ball across the field.
3. Tomorrow, Carl will kick the ball across the field.
4. Carl has been kicking the ball that way for years.
5. Today, Carl has kicked the ball across the field six times.
6. Tomorrow, Carl will have kicked the ball across the field.
7. Yesterday, Carl had kicked the ball across the field.
23
8. You will be leaving Bathurst tomorrow, won’t you?

9. My aunt was giving lectures in Asiatic culture this summer.
10. He had been learning Chinese at school.

1. Which one of the following sentences is written in the future perfect tense?
A. When they arrive, we will serve dinner.
B. At 8:00 pm we will have served dinner.
C. By the time they arrived, we had already served dinner.
D. We're afraid we have served dinner too early.
2. Which one of the following sentences is written in the present progressive

tense?
A. I am completing my income tax return early this year.
B. I will have completed my income tax return before the deadline.
C. I had completed my income tax return before April 30.
D. I have completed my income tax return.
3. Which one of the following sentences is written in the past perfect tense?
A. I recently received a letter from my friend in Ottawa.
B. I think I will soon receive a letter from my friend in Ottawa.
C. Do you think I will have received a letter from my friend by next
week?
D. I had received a letter from my friend in Ottawa.
4. Which one of the following sentences is written in the simple past tense?
A. They have lived here for two months.
B. They will have been living here for two months by the end of the week.
C. They lived in Halifax before moving here.
D. They have lived in Halifax and Charlottetown.
5. Which one of the following sentences is written in the simple future tense?
A. He is finished painting my house.
B. He will finish painting my house soon.
C. He will be finished painting my house by tonight.
D. He has finished painting my house.
24
6. Which one of the following sentences is written in the present perfect tense?
A. She has designed a logo for the company.
B. She will design a logo for the company.
C. She is designing a logo for the company.
D. She designed a logo for the company.
7. Write a sentence in the future perfect tense using the verb to wash.
8. Write a sentence in the present perfect tense using the verb to talk.
9. Write a sentence in the past progressive tense using the verb to sign.
10. Write a sentence in the future progressive tense using the verb to need.
11. Use the past perfect progressive tense in a sentence.
12. Use the present perfect progressive tense in a sentence.
Exercise 52: Irregular Verbs
1. Write a sentence in each of the 12 tenses using the verb to cut. Indicate the
tense used after each sentence.
2. Write a sentence in each of the 12 tenses using the verb to do. Indicate the
tense used after each sentence. Be sure to have your instructor correct your
work.
3 Write a sentence in the future perfect tense using the verb to know.
25
4. Indicate the tense of the underlined verbs in the following sentences. Write
your answers in your notebook.
SENTENCE TENSE?
A. I am feeling better already.
B. My son did his homework last night.
C. The disaster relief team has sprung into action.
D. By the time you get to school, the bell will already
have rung.
E. The train will be making three stops before Montreal
F. The butcher had already delivered our order.
G. Barry threw the ball to first base.
Exercise 53: Active and Passive Voice

Identify the verbs in the following sentences by underlining them. Then decide if
the verb is in the active or passive voice.
1. I was frightened by the storm.
2. My car ran out of gas on the Resources Road.
3. I might have forgotten to add your name to the list.
4. The child was struck by a stray bullet.
5. My heart was broken.
6. Stephen King has written many best sellers.
7. The strike vote is being called for next Monday.
8. That document was written in Halifax in 1774.
9. Our MLA will be voted into office again in the next election.
10. Local workers will be hired to build the new mall.
11. The audience will be arriving in the next hour.
12. Sandra’s writing is improving daily.
13. We have been searching for answers to our questions.
14. After the elections, the votes were recounted several times.
15. I have just been thinking about you.
26

Practice changing verbs from the passive to the active voice by rewriting all the
passive verbs you identified in the sentences in the previous exercise.

Write five sentences of your own in the active voice.
Write five sentences of your own in the passive voice.
Change the passive verbs to active ones.
Exercise 56: Review of Verbs

A. Look at the words below. Decide which words are nouns and which words
are verbs.
run still horse
dog fly farm
house calm storm
sail motor book
B. Now look up each word in the dictionary. Is there more than one entry word
with the same spelling? Which of these words can be used as both a noun and a
verb? How many of these words can be other parts of speech besides nouns or
verbs.
This was a “trick” exercise to remind you that you cannot tell what part of speech a
word is unless it is actually written in a sentence. All by themselves, words cannot
have a part of speech. Once they have been placed in a sentence, they start to
function by carrying the writer’s meaning to the reader. It is at this point that a
word develops into a part of speech.
C. Write two (or more) sentences for each word above that demonstrate its uses
as various parts of speech.
27

Underline every verb and verb phrase in the sentences below. For each one you
identified, write everything you can about it. The first one is done for you.
1. He has never drunk stout before.
Verb Phrase: has drunk Person, Number: 3rd person singular
Tense: present perfect Voice: active
Note: to name a passive verb tense, reword the sentence in the active voice and
name that tense.
2. The tour guides will show you the way to the restaurant.
3. Have you eaten here before?
4. Marcie had been asked to the recital by the committee.
5. Mel has been asking for trouble for months.
6. Lunch will be served at twelve o’clock sharp.
7. The surgeon spoke quietly to the patient.
8. I shall be seeing you again next week.
9. The child was severely bitten, so the dog was destroyed.
10. New friends are silver, but old ones are gold.
11. The couple usually walks to the office.
12. I am doing my homework now.
13. The music will have been playing for several hours.
14. He is dating a beautiful doctor.
15. The houses had just been repainted.
Exercise 58: Review of Nouns, Pronouns, and Verbs

List the nouns, pronouns, and verbs in each sentence.
1. The plane landed at Gander because of the ice on its wings.
2. My sister always rides her bike to the office.
3. Everything that Tom says about them is true.
4. The men were unhappy with both of those.
5. That company buys only the best automotive parts from us.
6. My sister was teaching herself Spanish.
7. Something should be done about each of these problems.
8. They might not find each other at the airport.
9. What were you thinking?
10. When everyone is finished, they will announce the results.
28
List the nouns, pronouns and verbs in each sentence. Then give as much
information as you can about each.
1. Kevin gave me Marion’s card.
2. Aunt Gladys lives at my mother’s now.
3. The jury is discussing its decision.
4. The chefs are always being asked for their recipes.
5. All of these will sell well.

Follow the directions from in the exercise above. If you have too many mistakes,
identify and review the area that is giving you problems.
1. I am happy about your decision.
2. Your choices seem logical.
3. Luke is talking to his girlfriend on the phone.
4. Where was he going?
5. Why haven’t you written that letter yet?
6. How much money will you need next week?
7. He had watched TV for more than an hour.
8. Oprah has changed people’s attitudes towards honesty.
9. Tony will have finished his course by next June.
10. We were walking along the beach just before the accident.

Follow the directions from in the exercise above. If you find you are still confused
about some points, ask your instructor to find alternate resource material, study it,
and then return to these review exercises and try them again.
1. He smelled the fresh bread, and his mouth watered.
2. The storm grew worse as night approached.
3. It was a dark and stormy afternoon.
4. They were anxious about their reservations in Cuba.
5. Many of the colours in these rooms are being changed by the decorator.
6. Her relatives were eating lunch on the porch because of the heat.
7. Those were made in China; these come from Sackville.
8. What has anyone seen lately.
9. Will you complete that survey?
29
10. Liz had driven herself to Central Hospital.

In the following sentences, indicate the adjectives and the noun each modifies.
Don't forget articles. Write your answers in your notebook.
SENTENCE Adjectives Nouns
1. The road was rough and uneven.

2. An old rusty car is parked in my space.
3. The child licked the sugary sweet icing from a
big spoon.
4. A ragged string dangled from the dusty light bulb.
5. I have had a boring, depressing day.
6. Invite those six people.
7. This trip takes several days
8. Do you like spicy, Mexican food?
9. We bought Shelley and Tim’s house.
10. The little girl had big, sparkling blue eyes.
11. These parcels are heavy.
12. Our cousins were eating huge, juicy apples.
13. Give them some light summer clothes.
14. Karl’s hockey skates are dull.
15. Two cats, sweet and lovable, sat on the dining
room table.
30

List all the adjectives in this paragraph.
The young hikers walked through the dark woods. A few boys knew that
they were lost, but most simply enjoyed the sweet smell of dried pine needles and
autumn leaves that littered the ground. The weather was warm, and the hills were
gentle, but as they continued on their way the sunlight became paler. The youngest
boys started to ask their Scout leader when they could stop and eat their
sandwiches. He told them that they would have to wait until they reach the little
lake on the other side of the steep blue ridge ahead. After two long hours, the group
of tired boys still had not reached the isolated lake that was their final destination,
and one older boy suggested that they set up camp beside a babbling brook. They
set up their canvas tents, lit a huge crackling fire, and ate their supper. Just as they
were climbing into their snug sleeping bags, they saw a beam of light, bright and
narrow, piercing the inky darkness. With relief, the leader realized that they were
six miles south of where they should have been. The car was obviously travelling
on the Black River Road and they were only a mile or two from Mr. Jensen’s
chicken farm. They weren’t lost at all!

Record the adverbs you find in these sentences in your notebook. Decided what
kind of information each gives: how? when? where? how much? what kind?
1. Yesterday, Bob read the material carefully.
2. They were dressed too casually for the banquet.
3. Where is the grocery store now?
4. Why was his work finished so quickly?
5. His ideas were quite useful in completing the project more efficiently.
6. He arrived there later with an extremely important message.
7. I have never seen such expensive jewellery.
8. The circus was really exciting.
9. Simon is not a very good driver.
10. Krista almost never goes to the arena.
31
Exercise 65: Adverbs Modifying Verbs, Adjectives, and Adverbs

List the adverbs in this exercise. For each adverb, tell whether it modifies a verb,
adjective or adverb.
1. Dave asked politely for another piece of pie.
2. Thoughtfully, the old man chewed his dinner.
3. Make sure that you review daily.
4. The apples had been tightly packed in the box.
5. Tim was very happy about his success.
6. I am sincerely grateful for your help.
7. His deeply tanned body told of hours in the sun.
8. You must travel very fast if you are going to get there in time.
9. The soldiers were really tired after their training.
10. She strolled leisurely down the mall.
Exercise 66: Distinguishing Between Adjectives and Adverbs

Choose the correct modifier. Indicate the type of modifier, i.e: adjective or adverb.
Write your answers in your notebook. Write an explanation of your choice.
Example: She danced (graceful, gracefully) across the stage.( )

Answer: She danced (graceful, gracefully) across the stage. (adverb)
1. Leah behaves (good, well). ( )

2. Sheila feels (sad, sadly) about the death of her dog. ( )
3. I am not (really, real) sure if I will have a party. ( )
4. The directions were (simple, simply) to follow. ( )
5. I don't feel (good, well). ( )
6. The repairs went (slowly, slow). ( )
7. The change in speed was (gradually, gradual). ( )
8. You work too (serious, seriously) sometimes. ( )
9. We feel (awful, awfully) about what happened. ( )
10. These chocolates taste (good, well). ( )
11. Firefighters must respond very (quick, quickly). ( )
12. Lynn spoke in a (calm, calmly) voice after the accident. ( )
13. Tiger Woods putted (bad, badly) on that last hole! ( )
14. The lights shone (brightly, bright) in my eyes. ( )
15. Paul did (good, well) on his second driver’s test. ( )
32
Exercise 67: Comparisons with Adjectives and Adverbs

Write the correct form of the modifier for the following sentences in your notebook.
1. Who is the (smaller, smallest, most small), Cathy or Diane?

2. My heart beat (rapidlier, more rapidly, more rapid) with each step.
3. It snowed (most, more) in January than in February.
4. The damage to the other car looked (worse, more badly, worser) than the
damage to mine.
5. Tom thinks math is (difficulter, more difficult) than grammar exercises.
6. He is the (elder, eldest) of the candidates.
7. This idea is (more unique, unique, most unique).

A Choose a preposition to join the following parts of sentences. How many
different prepositions will fill in the blank? For example:
Carl drove the bank.
Answer: Carl drove to, from, around, near, beside, etc. the bank.
1. Dawn fell the horse.
2. Earl worked him.
3. I will meet you the front entrance.
4. The horse galloped the field.
5. Smoking is not allowed the building.
B In the next part of this exercise, find and underline the prepositions.
1. They searched for shells and pebbles along the beach at the end of the day..
2. Krista searched among the rubble for pictures of her mother and father.
3. I can never find a sales clerk or a cashier in this store!
4. I think all the odd socks in the world end up under my son's bed.
5. Be careful walking near the tree with the hornets' nest!
6. Down the hill and around the corner came the three lost children.
7. The cat with the sore ear comes to the door every day at noon.
8. The houses beside the store on top of the hill were built in 1960 by my son.
9. Have the women in your group chosen a theme for the conference?
10. The prize for the best costume was given to the clown with the funny hat.
C Now that you are familiar with finding prepositions go back to the beginning
of this exercise and find the noun(s) or pronoun(s) which follow each preposition.
Write the whole prepositional phrase in your notebook.
33
D Each prepositional phrase you found is working as either an adjective or an

adverb in its sentence. If it limits the meaning of a noun or pronoun, it is a
prepositional adjective phrase. If it is telling where, when, why or how the action of
the verb took place, it is an prepositional adverb phrase. Look at each prepositional
phrase and decide if it is used as an adjective or adverb. Here’s an example.
The blond woman with the red dress sat on the bench at 5:00 p.m.
with the red dress............prepositional adjective phrase modifying “woman”

on the bench....................where:...prepositional adverb phrase modifying “sat”
at 5:00 p.m......................when.....prepositional adverb phrase modifying “sat”
Exercise 69: Prepositional Phrases

List the prepositional phrases in this exercise. After each one, tell whether it is used
as an adjective or an adverb.
1. The men on the roof worked for two hours in the heat.
2. During the night, the rest of the water drained from the basement.
3. He lived near the mall which was located to the north of the city limits.
4. The women in the kitchen looked under the tables and in the closet.
5. The old lady with the big hat cut into the line in front of me at the store.
6. On Fridays, all of the staff at the radio station eats lunch at the old mill.
7. In the middle of a big spacious lawn, the designer placed a beautiful statue.
8. Because of the storm, the volunteers did not hear about the revised forms.
9. Since his return, the children from the day care at the church have walked
around the block every day.
10. After his graduation in 1992, he answered an ad for a job in Manitoba.
Exercise 70: Conjunctions - Coordinate, Correlative, Conjunctive Adverbs

Underline the conjunctions in the following sentences.
1. I asked her to wait for me, but she went home on the bus.
2. The chili was not only spicy hot, but also steaming hot.
3. Will you watch television tonight or go to the mall?
4. Either Anna and I will go, or Lynn and Joan will take our place.
5. Skiing is both fun and good exercise.
6. She neither washes windows nor cleans ovens.
34
7. We will go; however, we will not pay our own fare.

8. Neither Cal nor Emma wanted to leave.
9. Not only will I attend, but also I will perform.
10. I made supper; meanwhile, the children swam in the pool.
11. They searched under the bridge and beside the river.
12. Tired but happy, the team returned home.
13. The weather was snowy, yet he decided to drive anyway.
14. He was the designated driver, so he just drank pop all night.
15. He organized his study time; as a result, he felt prepared.

Copy these sentences and underline the subordinate conjunctions you can find.
1. He paid for her ticket because he liked her.
2. Since I first met Sheila and her, she has always been very polite.
3. I won’t be able to go even though I have the money.
4. After the whale beached itself, some local citizens rescued it.
5. I know where they have hidden the treasure, but I don’t have a map.
6. Since the maple trees were damaged in the storm, they will be cut down.
7. I wonder why they are leaving so early.
8. Mark knows more than I do about that case.
9. It isn’t certain whether they will come or not.
10. The engineer from Mainframe explained how they would build the bridge.
11. Before they read the instructions, they couldn’t fix it themselves.
12. After the lecture, the students asked if they could stay.
13. Although he is stronger, he couldn’t turn it.
14. Because you were late, you missed it.
15. Thieves broke in while we were away.
16. The roads were slippery because the snow was followed by rain.
17. Although it was quite sunny, the wind was cool.
18. I don’t know how I will get there.
19. If you are short, you can’t reach that cupboard.
20. The story explained why people believed in the ghost.
21. He always talks as if he were an expert.
22. Unless the Leafs win this game, they are out of the playoffs.
23. Les is five inches taller than I am.
24. After he won the gold medal, he turned pro.
25. You just answered my questions before I asked them.
35
B. For each sentence above, put brackets around the subordinate conjunction
and all the words that belong with it. The first one is done for you.
He paid for her ticket (because he liked her).
Exercise 72: Relative Pronouns

A. Copy these sentences into your notebook. Underline all the relative
pronouns.
1. He reported that he had seen the incident.
2. Are you sure that you are right?
3. I know who bought the Fuller’s house.
4. The monkeys which escaped from the zoo were recaptured.
5. The women who volunteered for the sale will work on Tuesday.
6. I just introduced you to the man whom I met at the club.
7. My sister, who lives in Utah, came for a visit.
8. Cars that cost more than $20,000 aren’t worth the money.
9. Detectives investigated the theft which Miles reported.
10. That book that you bought last month is very interesting.
Write TEN (10) sentences beginning with an interjection. Use both exclamation
points and commas to punctuate your sentences.
36
Exercise 74: REVIEW EXERCISES (BAU and IAU)
Identify the part of speech of every word in each of these sentences.
1. Dogs make good pets for young children.(7)
2. The pioneers settle quickly on the small farms around Gloucester. (10)
3. Your ancestors lived beside the sea; mine lived near Moncton. (10)
4. Does he often go to the beach during the summer? (10)
5. Those big, chunky pots sell for nine dollars, so you can buy several of them.(15)
6. I do not think about their problems now because I don’t have time. (14)
7. Casually, the thieves surveyed the neighbourhood until they spotted the right
house.(12)
8. Everyone recognized his courage and strength even if he did not. (11)
9. Lilacs always smell wonderful in spring. (6)
10. Mark smelled the skunk and left the area immediately. (9)
11. The students in this program are very hard workers. (9)
12. She believes in his ability. (5)
13. The frail, old lady is safe but unhappy at the seniors’ home. (12)
14. He has always been a really excellent hockey coach. (9)
15. You must never show your fear of snakes to your children. (11)
There are a total of 150 words in this review. Count the number of correct answers. If
you have less than a 120, you may consider asking your instructor for more practice.
37
Exercise 75: Review Exercise (IAU only)
These sentences are a little more difficult. Identify the parts of speech of each word.
1. Fred sat on the fence and ate his lunch while the others went into town. (15)
2. Usually, the chairs were placed near the windows, but today they are in a circle.
(14)
3. I had been studying for three hours, and I still don’t know it. (14)
4. Very quickly, they finished their work. (6)
5. They had been writing their essays before they went there .(10)
6. After they had mowed the lawn, they bought lunch .(9)
7. Because they have cashed their cheques, they have some money. (10)
8. Although the storm was very intense, the damage was minor. (10)
9. Since the accident, the victims have recovered quite well. (9)
10. Because of her problems, Sue often seeks my advice. (8)
11. Have you ever seen those boats in the harbour before? (10)
12. The elderly waiter who served us beer is an old friend of hers. (13)
13. Who thinks that these train tickets are ours and those are theirs. (12)
14. Where did you hide the candy which I bought? (9)
15. Ouch, that knife is so sharp that I cut myself badly. (11)
16. Miles’ brother is extremely intelligent even if he can’t pass those provincial exams.
(13)
38
17. Hey Eric, did you complete that work on those cars during the weekend? (13)
18. Finally, his clever tricks have failed. (6)
19. The Canadian economy is becoming worse very quickly. (8)
There are 200 words in this exercise. If you correctly identified 160 of them, you can
continue with the pre-test for this module which you can find in the back of this book.
If you encountered some problems or are confused about some aspects of parts of
speech, try to pinpoint the areas you need to review based on the mistakes you made.
Ask your instructor for supplementary work.
39
BAU ENGLISH - PRETEST
1. Read this paragraph.

Michael’s first job was with Bearskin Airlines as a bush pilot. He regularly flew
supplies and construction equipment from Edmonton to Yellowknife. Sometimes
he carried groceries like milk, fruit, and meat. Once he even transported a hockey
team to a small settlement on the Arctic Ocean. He loved the beauty of the
landscapes he saw and the honesty of the people he met. He was pleased with his
success and happy in his work.
In the paragraph above, find one example of each of the following: (11)
a. Common noun g. Count noun
b. Proper noun h. Non-count noun
c. Concrete noun i. Possessive noun
d. Abstract noun j. Singular noun
e. Collective noun k. Plural noun
f. Noun used as an adjective
2. Rewrite these sentences, using apostrophes correctly.(9)

a. Mollys pay cheque was for two weeks work.
b. Sallys covered a whole month of work.
c. Mollys and Sallys rent was due on the apartment they shared.
d. The ladys hats were bought at the Duncans store.
e. Those repairs will take more than a weeks work.
f. The six workers complaints were very reasonable.
g. The horses hooves needed new shoes.
3. Match the term on the right with the correct example on the left.(8)
A. What 1. 3rd person singular
B. Someone 2. possessive noun, plural
C. We 3. interrogative pronoun
D. Their 4. means “it is”
E. Its 5. indefinite pronoun
F. It’s 6. 1st person plural
G. Paul’s 7. 3rd person plural
H. Sisters’ 8. non-count noun
9. possessive noun, singular
40
4. Write the four (4) principal parts of these verbs. (15)

walk cut sing think drive
5. List all the prepositional phrases in these sentences.(11)

1. The mice ate all of the cereal in the cupboard.
2. During the week, we work for Mr. Linton.
3. Will you please wash your dishes after supper?
4. He always uses a cane since his accident.
5. The teacher with the beard is Mr. Charles.
6. The leaves on the trees whispered softly in the light breeze.
7. The wagon with the red wheels was parked beside the general store.
6. Write two (2) sentences using interjections. (2)
7. Write the verb or verb phrase in each sentence.(10)

1. The crows flew toward the swamp.
2. They were afraid of bears.
3. John is always talking to his boss lately.
4. They ate six lobsters each.
5. Are you cutting her hair?
6. The merchants have not sold many souvenirs.
7. I was the first one there!
8. Next summer, we will go to Disneyland.
9. His Ford has always run well.
10. Paula will rent a car in Boston.
8. Write a sentence comparing two people. Use the correct form of the adjective
good.
9. Write a sentence comparing two things. Use the correct form of the adjective
comfortable.
10. Write a sentence comparing two actions. Use the correct form of the adverb
quietly.
41
11. Write a sentence comparing more than two actions. Use the correct form of the
adverb loudly.
early.
13. Identify the part of speech of every word in these sentences.(41)

1. Our new neighbours have three young children.
2. Many of these disks belonged to Jeb’s friend.
3. That team is going to Mount Carleton soon.
4. Hey! What are you cooking for supper.
5. Several of the men from the camp were always discussing the bad weather.
14. What are the correct pronouns in the following sentence?
Josh and (she, her) were the first to arrive.
1. she and them

2. Her
1. Read this paragraph.
Michael’s first job was with Bearskin Airlines as a bush pilot. He regularly flew
supplies and construction equipment from Edmonton to Yellowknife. Sometimes
he carried groceries like milk, fruit, and meat. Once he even transported a hockey
team to a small settlement on the Arctic Ocean. He loved the beauty of the
landscapes he saw and the honesty of the people he met. He was pleased with his
success and happy in his work.
In the paragraph above, find one example of each of the following: (11)
a. Common noun g. Count noun
b. Proper noun h. Non-count noun
c. Concrete noun i. Possessive noun
d. Abstract noun j. Singular noun
e. Collective noun k. Plural noun
f. Noun used as an adjective
2. Rewrite these sentences, using apostrophes correctly.(9)

a. Mollys pay cheque was for two weeks work.
42
b. Sallys covered a whole month of work.

c. Mollys and Sallys rent was due on the apartment they shared.
d. The ladys hats were bought at the Duncans store.
e. Those repairs will take more than a weeks work.
f. The workers complaints were very reasonable.
g. The horses hooves needed new shoes.
3. Match the term on the right with the correct example on the left.(8)
A. What 1. 3rd person singular
B. Someone 2. possessive noun, plural
C. We 3. interrogative pronoun
D. Their 4. not a personal pronoun
E. Its 5. indefinite pronoun
F. It’s 6. 1st person plural
G. Paul’s 7. 3rd person plural
H. Sisters’ 8. non-count noun
9. possessive noun, singular
4. Write the four (4) principal parts of these verbs. (15)

walk cut sing think drive
5. List all the prepositional phrases in these sentences.(11)

1. The mice ate all of the cereal in the cupboard.
2. During the week, we work for Mr. Linton.
3. Will you please wash your dishes after supper?
4. He always uses a cane since his accident.
5. The teacher with the beard is Mr. Charles.
6. The leaves on the trees whispered softly in the light breeze.
7. The wagon with the red wheels was parked beside the general store.
6. Write two (2) sentences using interjections. (2)
7. Write the verb or verb phrase in each sentence.(10)

1. The crows flew toward the swamp.
2. They were afraid of bears.
3. John is always talking to his boss lately.
4. They ate six lobsters each.
43
5. Are you cutting her hair?

6. The merchants have not sold many souvenirs.
7. I was the first one there!
8. Next summer, we will go to Disneyland.
9. His Ford has always run well.
10. Paula will rent a car in Boston.
8. Write a sentence comparing two people. Use the correct form of the adjective
good.
9. Write a sentence comparing two things. Use the correct form of the adjective
comfortable.
quietly.
44
11. Write a sentence comparing more than two actions. Use the correct form of the
adverb loudly.
early.
13. Identify the part of speech of every word in these sentences.(44)

1. Our new neighbours have three young children and a dog.
2. Many of these disks belonged to Jeb’s friend.
3. That team is going to Mount Carleton soon.
4. Hey! What are you cooking for supper.
5. Several of the men from the camp were always discussing the bad weather.
14. What are the correct pronouns for the following sentence?
Josh and (she, her) were the first to arrive, and (they, them) were the first to
leave.
A. she and they
B. her and they
C. she and them
D. her and them
15. How many nouns does this sentence contain?
Wetlands, including ponds, marshes, and swamps, are home to many kinds of
plants and animals
A. Five
B. Six
C. Seven
D. Eight
45
16. How many pronouns does this sentence contain?
What can you tell me about each of them?
A. Five
B. Three
C. Two
D. Six
17. Nouns are words that

A. join groups of words or sentences.
B. include the names of persons, places, things, and qualities.
C. describe substances, animals, and people.
D. are used to take the place of pronouns.
18. Our hockey team has played Florenceville before.

The complete verb in this sentence is
A. playing Florenceville
B. be playing
C. has played
D. playing
19. They have never lost a game against that team.

The complete verb in this sentence is
A. have lost
B. never lost
C. lost
D. lost against
20. The homeless man, ragged and dirty, was very hungry.
The adjectives in this sentence are
A. ragged, dirty, very
B. ragged, homeless, was, dirty
C. the, ragged, homeless, dirty, hungry
D. the, ragged, homeless, very, dirty, hungry
46
21. The following sentences make comparisons. Only one sentence uses the correct
modifier. Which one?
A. Which donut is the biggest, the chocolate covered, or the glazed?

B. This fall is the prettier of all the falls I can remember.
C. I think Toronto is farther away than Ottawa.
D. He insists his cold is badder today than it was yesterday.
22. Which one of the following sentences is correct?
A. The O'Neills are selling their trailer. They are moving to Moncton.
B. Yesterday, I bought a pair of sneakers. Them sneakers are really great!
C. Everybody who wants to enter the contest should put their form in the box.
D. Did anybody lose their car keys? I found one.
23. Correct the grammar errors in these sentences. Rewrite the corrected version on
your paper.(9)
A. Them skates are real good.
B. Him and me went to the Ashleys house.
C. He divided the candy between Sarah and I.
D. Everyone must sign their time sheet before leaving.
E. The dogs blanket wasn’t in it’s house when the storm hit.
TOTAL: 133
47
ANSWER KEY: BAU ENGLISH - PRETEST
1. Answers will vary.
2. a. Molly’s, weeks’
2. Sally’s
3. Molly and Sally’s
4. lady’s, Duncan’s
5. week’s
6. workers’
7. horse’s or horses’ Explain the meaning of your choice.
3. A. What Interrogative pronoun

2. Someone Indefinite pronoun
3. We 1st person plural
4. Their 3rd person plural
5. Its 3rd person singular
6. It’s means “it is”
7. Paul’s possessive noun, singular
8. sisters’ possessive noun, plural
4. walk walked walked walking

cut cut cut cutting
sing sang sung singing
think thought thought thinking
drive drove driven driving
5. of the cereal in the cupboard

during the week for Mr. Linton
after supper
since his accident
with the beard
on the trees in the light breeze
with the red wheels beside the general store

48
7. flew, were, is talking, ate, are cutting, have sold, was, will go, has run,
will rent
13. 1. Our......pronoun/adjective new.....adjective

neighbours......noun have.....verb
three......adjective young.....adjective
children.....noun and.....conjunction
a......adjective dog.....noun
2. Many.....pronoun of.....preposition
these......adjective disks.....noun
belonged.....verb to......preposition
Jeb’s.....noun, possessive friend.....noun
3. That......adjective team.....noun
is.....verb going......verb
to.....preposition Mount Carleton.....noun
soon.....adverb
4. Hey.....interjection What.....pronoun
are.....verb you.....pronoun
cooking.....verb for.....preposition
supper.....noun
5. Several.....pronoun of.....preposition
the......adjective men......noun
from.....preposition the.....adjective
camp.....noun were.....verb
always.....adverb discussing......verb
the.....adjective bad.......adjective
weather......noun
49
14. A
15. D
16. A
17. B
18. C
19. A
20. C
21. C
22. A
23. A. Those skates are really good.

2. He and I went to Ashley’s house.
3. He divided the candy between Sarah and me.
4. Everyone must sign his or her time sheet before leaving.
5. The dog’s blanket wasn’t in its house when the storm hit.
50
IAUENG - PRETEST
1. Identify the part of speech of each word.(51)

A. Cheryl’s ideas are better than mine are.(6)
B. An extremely loud clap of thunder rattled the windows.(9)
C. Are you really happy that they are coming here?(9)
D. Oh no, Matt will not have the money before the tour leaves Woodstock.(11)
E. Each of these would have been correct, but the answers that you changed are
now wrong.(16)
2. In which one of the following sentences is the verb to loan written in the past
perfect tense?
A. John loaned the maps to Erin's husband.
B. John has loaned the maps to Erin's husband.
C. John had loaned the maps to Erin's husband.
D. John will loan the maps to Erin' husband.
3. Name the tense of each verb.
A. Beth handled the dog very well today.

B. The dentist was examining my teeth thoroughly.
C. A month from now, I will call you.
D. The Sullivans have a new boat.
E. Nimoy has been playing that role for over twenty years.
4. Some nouns in the following sentences require apostrophes to show possession.

Rewrite the sentences and make the necessary correction. (7)
A. Sheilas mother lives next door.
B. I bought those pants in the childrens department.
C. The Martins bought Nicoles old washing machine.
D. The bosses letters are always long and dull.
E. The kitten pulled on its mothers ear.
F. The renovations to the Jones house gave him three weeks work.
51
5. Match the term on the left with the name on the left. (8)
a. Indefinite pronoun 1. What
b. Relative pronoun 2. Myself
c. Personal pronoun 3. Someone
d. Reciprocal pronoun 4. Yourselves
e. Reflexive pronoun, singular 5. Which
f. Emphatic pronoun, plural 6. Us
g. Demonstrative pronoun 7. These
h. Interrogative pronoun 8. Themself
9. Each other
6. Which one of the following sentences is the verb to watch written in the simple
future tense?
A. We watched the ships come in that night.
B. We will watch the ships arrive tonight.
C. We will have watched the ships arrive before dark.
D. We are watching the ships arrive tonight.

Anne and Jim left for Cape Breton today to spend Christmas with their
families.
The proper nouns in the sentence are
A. Christmas, Cape Breton, Anne, Jim.

B. and, for, to, with.
C. today, families.
D. left, spend.
8. Which of the following is the proper possessive form for the car belonging to my
neighbours?
A. my neighbours car.
B. car belonging to my neighbour.
C. my neighbours' car.
D. my neighbour's car.
52
9. Which of the following is the proper possessive form for the club of university
women?
A. university's women's club.

B. university women's club.
C. university womens' club.
D. university's women club.
10. Which of the following is the proper possessive form for the strap of the camera?
A. the cameras' strap.

B. the camera's strap.
C. the camera strap.
D. the cameras strap’s
11. Write one sentence correctly using each of the following adverbs.(6)
early quite
almost fast
easily quickly
(You should write a total of SIX sentences.)
12. Read the following sentence:(4)
I will complete this course by April of next year.
A. Rewrite the sentence and underline the complete verb (the main verb and
any auxiliary verbs).
B. Write the tense of the verb.
C. Rewrite the sentence, changing the verb to the future perfect tense,
D. Underline the complete verb in your new sentence.
13. Choose the best conjunctions to join the parts of the following sentences.(3)
A. Ron was late he stopped for me.

B. Do you like chocolate cake white cake?
C. I shovel snow mow lawns.
53
14. Pronouns have been left out of the following paragraph. Rewrite the paragraph,
using pronouns as you think are necessary.(5)
Shirley has a pet ferret named Furry. The ferret belonging to Shirley was
named Furry because of the soft fur of the ferret. As far as I can see, the soft
fur of the ferret belonging to Shirley is the only good thing about the pet ferret
belonging to Shirley. The ferret belonging to Shirley bites at every opportunity,
and the ferret belonging to Shirley does not smell very pleasant.
We lived in New Brunswick all our lives.
C. Rewrite the sentence, changing the verb to the present perfect tense,
16. In the following sentences, indicate the adjectives and the noun each modifies.
1. I heard a great new song on the radio.(5)
2. Monica’s sneakers are always dirty and dusty.(3)
3. Monford’s old barn, large and unpainted, looked abandonned.(6)
4. Our children don’t like the icy, cold water.(4)
5. Their sporty new car, red and expensive, is too flashy.(6)
17. A. List five (5) linking verbs.(5)

B. Use each in a sentence.(5)
18. Write three (3) sentences with interjections.(3)

54
19. Choose the correct modifier. Indicate whether the modifier is an adjective or an
adverb.(10)
A. Ted damaged his car (bad, badly).
B. The entire team did not feel (well, good) after the meal.
C. The managers had a (private, privately) meeting.
D. Ken gets behind at school because he works (slow, slowly).
E. He answered those questions (real, really) (well, good).
20. Write five sentences using FIVE DIFFERENT auxiliary verbs.(5)
I feel the raindrops on my face.
C. Rewrite the sentence, changing the verb to the past perfect tense,
22. A. Write a sentence containing at least one example of each of the eight parts of
speech.
B. Write each word of your sentence in a line down the page. Indicate after the
word the part of speech of each word (see example following).(8)
Example:
A. Cindy writes letters.
B. Cindy - NOUN
writes - VERB
letters - NOUN
23. Find five examples of prepositional phrases anywhere in this test.(5)

55
24. Record and name all the conjunctions in these sentences.(10)

A. Ruth and Steve will either write or telephone.
B. While they were away, they visited Len and Jennifer.
C. A storm was forecast; therefore, we cancelled our trip.
D. Have you seen the movie that is playing downtown.
E. The man who wrote that book is in town today.
F. Your work is good, but it still needs more work.
G. They completed the report which we requested, yet we never received it.
25. Correct the grammar errors in these sentences.(12)
1. I bought some of them apples from he and Jim.

2. He had went there several times before.
3. The driver could of finished this if I had had the time.
4. The lawyer will do all the work hisself.
5. The tourists changed a large amount of dollars at the airport.
6. Could him and me rent a movie?
7. He sure done good on his last test.
8. Each of the students should buy their own textbook for this course.
Total 192
56
ANSWER KEY - IAU ENGLISH - PRETEST
1. A. Cheryl’s.....noun, possessive ideas.....noun

are.....verb better.....adjective
than.....conjunction mine......pronoun
are.....verb.
B. An.....adjective extremely......adverb
loud.....adjective clap.....noun
of.....preposition thunder.....noun
rattled.....verb the.....adjective
windows......noun
C. Are.....verb you.....pronoun
really.....adverb happy......adjective
that......conjunction/pronoun they......pronoun
are.....verb coming.....verb
here.....adverb
D. Oh no.....interjection Matt.....noun
will.....verb not.....adverb
have.....verb the.....adjective
money......noun before......conjunction
the.....adjective tour......noun
leaves......verb Woodstock.....noun
E. Each.....pronoun of.....preposition
these.....pronoun would.....verb
have.....verb been.....verb
correct......adjective but......conjunction
the.....adjective answers......noun
that......conjunction/pronoun you.....pronoun
changed......verb are......verb
now......adverb wrong......adjective
2. C
57
3. A. Simple past
B. Past progressive
C. Simple future
D. Simple present
E. Present perfect progressive
4. A. Sheila’s
B. children’s
C. Nicole’s
D. bosses’
E. mother’s
F. Jones’ weeks’
5. a. 3; b. 5; c. 6; d. 9: e. 2; f. 4
g. 7; h. 1
6. B
7. A
8. C
9. B
10. B
12. A. will complete

2. Simple future
3. will have completed
13. Answers may vary.

58
15. lived
Simple past
have lived.......present perfect
16. a, great, new......song the....radio

Monica’s, dirty, dusty.......sneakers
Monford’s, old, large, unpainted, abandonned........barn
Our.....children the, icy, cold.......water
their, sporty, new, red, expensive, flashy......car
19. badly.....adverb
well.....adjective (after a linking verb)
private......adjective
slowly......adverb
really......adverb well......adverb
21. feel
simple present
had felt....past perfect
24. and.....co-ordinate conjunction either/or.....correlative conjunction

while.....subordinate conjunction and.....co-ordinate conjunction
therefore.....conjunctive adverb
that.....relative pronoun
who.....relative pronoun
but.....co-ordinate conjunction
yet.....co-ordinate conjunction.
59
25. I bought some of those apples from Jim and him.

He had gone there several times before.
The driver could have finished this if he had had the time.
The lawyer will do the work himself.
The tourists changed a large number of dollars at the airport.
Could he and I rent a movie?
He certainly did well on his last test
Each of the students should by his or her own textbooks for this course.
ACADEMIC STUDIES
ENGLISH
Answer Key for

Supplementary Exercises
GRAMMAR: PART I
Parts of Speech
FALL 1998
1
ANSWER KEY
Exercise 1: Nouns
1. dog, cat, porch 2. muffins, blueberries
3. daughter, computer, friend 4. Robert, car, Saint John, truck
5. snow, roads, drivers, motels 6. passengers, ship, collision, iceberg
7. Titantic, hours, husbands, wives 8. penguins, South Pole, birds, cold
9. couples, Florida, weather 10. Shediac, Confederation Bridge,
Riverview
Exercise 2: Nouns
A. 1. top, hill, Northumberland Strait 2. ocean, clouds
3. boats 4. fishermen, traps, lobster
5. people, area, lives, sea 6. markets, mussels, clams, scallops,
lobster
7. villages, canneries seafood, 8. boats, fishermen, harbours, night
shipment, Japan
9. weather, catch 10. storms, life, water
B. Answers will vary.
1. Many, them, few 2. Everybody, something, they
3. What, you, you 4. They, themselves
5. She, herself, she 6. All, those
7. Who 8. Stones, these
9. None, us, that 10. He, her, this
Exercise 4: Pronouns ( The second part of answers will vary)

A. 1. Who, us, no one 2. This, her
3. She, them, any, it 4. Them, that
5. What, you, him, his 6. We
7. Mine, it 8. Me, some
9. They, we 10. Many
2
Exercise 5: Verbs
1. Threw 2. Perched 3. Flew
4. Cost 5. Dreamed 6. Walks
7. Rides 8. Thought 9. Looked
10. Slept
Exercise 6: Verbs
1. Sat, were jogging 2. Ate 3. Was enjoying
4. Decided 5. Has been driving 6. Will guess
7. Are reading, have finished 8. Will send 9. Agreed
10. Wants
Exercise 7: Verbs
1. Learned 2. Had been broken 3. Was bringing
4. Could stay 5. Became 6. Arrived
7. Brought 8. Was returning 9. Are calling
10. Hope, will have
1. Little, the, dusty 2. Six, delicious 3. The, dark, brown, the,
new, white
4. A, beautiful, quiet, that, 5. The, old, torn, faded 6. A, few, train, six
flower the, light
7. The, hockey, the steel 8. Paper, the, annual 9. These, juicy, red
10. The, long, summer, hot
dry
Exercise 9: Adverbs
1. Early 2. Soon 3. Carefully
4. Not , there 5. Here, tomorrow 6. Yesterday, effectively
7. Very, lately 8. Truly 9. Surprisingly, quickly
10. Really, really
Note: for class, on the table, at noon, at the beach, during this last week are also
adverbs because they answer the questions when, where, why. These grammar
points will be dealt with in a later section. If you identified them as adverbs, you
are really thinking.
3

1. Relatively 2. Daily 3. Today, very
4. Quickly, accurately 5. Generally, quite 6. Never
7. Not, late 8. Finally, very, correctly
9. Brightly 10. Politely, really

1. On the bed, in the guest room 2. Through the park, towards home
3. Behind the desk, under the stairs 4. Of her dress,
5. On airplanes, beside those, on trains 6. On the porch
7. With tickets 8. From maple trees, into a syrup
9. On the road, to Stanley
10. With the long scarf, in the mall

1. In Sackville prepositional adjective phrase modifying the noun aunt,
Of the antiques prepositional adjective phrase modifying the pronoun several
To Gene: prepositional adverb phrase modifying the verb gave
2. Beside ours: prepositional adjective phrase modifying the noun camp
In 1966: prepositional adverb phrase modifying the verb was built
By John’s brother: prepositional adverb phrase modifying the verb was built
3. Since the crash: prepositional adverb phrase modifying the verb have received
Of the survivors: prepositional adjective phrase modifying the pronoun many
4. In his new movie: prepositional adverb phrase modifying the verb drives
From Toronto: prepositional adverb phrase modifying the verb drives
To Los Angeles: prepositional adverb phrase modifying the verb drives
5. Of day: prepositional adjective phrase modifying the noun time
6. Of her work: prepositional adjective phrase modifying the noun quality
7. Of our friends: prepositional adjective phrase modifying the pronoun few
From school: prepositional adjective phrase modifying the noun friends
For supper: prepositional adverb phrase modifying the verb arrived
At Julie’s: prepositional adverb phrase modifying the verb arrived
8. Of the items: prepositional adjective phrase modifying the pronoun none
On that page: prepositional adjective phrase modifying the noun items
Until July: prepositional adverb phrase modifying the verb are
9. In 1992: prepositional adverb phrase modifying the verb disappeared
Of the money: prepositional adjective phrase modifying the pronoun most
4
10. From Germany: prepositional adjective phrase modifying the noun owners
Of it: prepositional adjective phrase modifying the pronoun all
To them: prepositional adverb phrase modifying the verb sold

1. Wow 2. Oh no 3. Ouch 4. No 5. Yuck

1. And words (2 nouns)
2. And words (2 nouns)
3. And prepositional phrases
4. And adverbs
But ideas
5. So ideas
6. After ideas
7. Before ideas
8. And adjectives
When ideas
9. Because ideas
10. Until ideas

1. Although and
2. Because yet
3. Or which
4. Who but
5. That both...and
6. Until
7. If so
8. When
9. And
10. Because
Exercise 15: Review

1. Carol noun 2. Our pronoun/adjective
and conjunction friends noun
I pronoun in preposition
5
travelled verb Calgary noun

to preposition were verb
Alberta noun surprised adjective
last adjective when conjunction
year noun we pronoun
arrived verb
3. The adjective (article) 4. Their pronoun/adjective

tall adjective house noun
majestic adjective was verb
Rocky Mountains noun built verb
majestic adjective in preposition
are verb 1990 noun
a adjective (article)
truly adverb
beautiful adjective
sight noun
5. No interjection 6. We pronoun
you pronoun jogged verb
should verb quickly adverb
not adverb through preposition
take verb the adjective (article)
your pronoun/adjective dark adjective
camera noun woods noun
on preposition
your pronoun/adjective
trip noun
7. Most pronoun 8. She pronoun

of preposition was verb
the adjective (article) giving verb
students noun a adjective (article)
listened verb short adjective
politely adverb but conjunction
interesting adjective
lecture noun
6
9. We pronoun 10. The adjective (article)

bought verb wind noun
a adjective (article) was verb
very adverb cold adjective
small adjective but conjunction
quantity noun the adjective (article)
of preposition sun noun
food noun was verb
yesterday adverb really adverb
warm adjective
11. This adjective 12. Sheila noun

book noun and conjunction
cost verb he pronoun
six adjective were verb
dollars noun talking verb
to preposition
her pronoun
when conjunction
it pronoun
happened verb
13. The adjective 14. Turn verb

American adjective at preposition
fishermen noun the adjective (article)
caught verb lights noun
two adjective and conjunction
salmon noun go verb
for preposition two adjective
lunch noun blocks noun
west adverb
15. Eric noun
and conjunction
they pronoun
learned verb
very adverb
quickly adverb
7

Common Nouns Proper Nouns
1. moonlight, leaves, path Black Lake
2. parcel, sister, Marsha, Regina
3. city Bathurst, Bay of Chaleur
4. family, mill Robin, Alberta
5. people, newspaper, weekend Italy
6. language, exceptions, rules, grammar English
7. maple*, syrup, areas North America
8. hockey*, arena, street Beresford
9. settlers Gaspé, France, England
10. stores, sale, carnival, profits Main Street
* Depending on the grammar text you consult, the word maple may be considered
either a noun or an adjective.

Answers will vary.
Exercise 18: Concrete and Abstract Nouns

Common nouns: rose, cow, school, computer, stars, bubbles
Abstract nouns: justice, happiness, truth, grace, skiing, fear
Exercise 19: Collective Nouns

Answers may vary.
Exercise 20: Mass Nouns

1. Owen has (many, several, a few, etc.) assignments to do this week.
3. (Many, several, a large number of, etc.) deer were shot this season.
4. Ann receives (too much, many pieces of, a lot of, a large amount of, etc.) junk
mail.

A. 1. Mary’s 2. dog’s 3. months’ 4. Sue’s, men’s
5. boy’s
B. the children’s book Elvis’s biggest fans
the secretaries’ meeting the bosses’ memos
my oldest son’s car the men’s department
8
the buses’ schedule the cats’ paws

the coyote’s barking two weeks’ pay

1. Bob’s uncle lives near Sharon’s farm.
2. Charles’ company owed him two days’ pay.
3. Martha’s sister was worried about her son’s health. (one son)
4. Mrs. Smith was worried about their sons’ health. (two sons)
5. The child’s name is Nora, and the family’s name is Boudreau.
6. City Council’s regular meetings are held on Mondays.
7. The students’ cafeteria will be closed after next week’s graduation.
8. Mr. Childs’ car was being serviced at Eaton’s.
9. The women’s resumés were sent to the companies’ head offices by the
bosses’ secretary.
10. Mark’s mother lives at my sister’s, but the company’s salesman went to my
cousin’s (cousins’)* place.
* Depending on the meaning, either would be correct.

1. My uncles’ farmhouse was struck by during last summer’s storm. (two uncles)
2. The girl’s hair had been cut short for the twins’ wedding.
3. A March snow storm is sometimes called “winter’s last lament”.
4. Have you seen Mel Gibson’s last three movies?
5. The skateboarders’ park had to be closed for repairs to its half pipes.
6. Because of the accident, his wife’s income was reduced.
7. Did you see the dragsters collide on Old Oak Road yesterday?
8. Finish your client’s reports before you go to Smith’s tonight. (one client)
9. Frank and James’ mail order business is making them a rich man’s fortune.
10. The sun’s rays are too dangerous for us to sit on these lawn chairs for too long!

Answers will vary.
Exercise 25: Review of Nouns
1. A correct possessive form of the sentence would be

C. That is my neighbour's new car.
9
2. The eight parts of speech are:

1. nouns
2. pronouns
3. verbs
4. adjectives
5. adverbs
6. prepositions
7. conjunctions
8. interjections
3. The proper nouns in the sentence are

B. Centennial Bridge, Chatham, Ferry Road.
4. Rewrite the following sentences to make the noun indicated by bold print
possessive.
A. Laura is Pam's oldest sister.
B. This is Doris's store.
C. I do not like Cheryl Hastings' apartment.
D. Those are the children's toys.
E. The police wrote down the witnesses' descriptions.
5. A noun is a word which names a person, place, thing, or quality.
6. The nouns in the sentence are

C. friends, town, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
7. Answers will vary. Check your answer with your instructor. The following is
an example of answers you might have chosen.
A. soda pop - Pepsi, 7-Up, Coca-Cola, Orange Crush, Sprite
B. city - Moncton, Saint John, Fredericton, Edmundston,
Bathurst, Campbellton, Halifax, Truro, Ottawa
C. river - St. John River, Miramichi River, Little River, Salmon
River, New River
D. holiday - Christmas, Easter, Boxing Day, New Brunswick Day,
Thanksgiving, Labour Day, Canada Day
E. magazine - Canadian Living, Chatelaine, Consumer Reports,
Discover, Entertainment, Inside Sports, Sports
10
Illustrated, Parents
8. Write a common noun for each proper noun given below. (Example: New
Brunswick - province)
A. January - month
B. Canada - country
C. Saint John - city
D. Jupiter - planet
E. Dr. Parker - doctor
9. A. The petals of the flower fell to the floor.

B. I had a great time last St. Patrick's Day.
C. no corrections
D. Do you remember when ten cents' worth of candy was enough to share
with your friends?
E. There is a burn mark on the arm of the chair.
10. church - common, concrete, count, singular

mice - common, concrete, count, plural
mob - common, concrete, collective, count, singular
beauty - common, abstract, non-count, singular
Canada’s - proper, abstract*, count**, singular, possessive
news - common, abstract*, non-count, singular
armies - common, concrete, collective, count, plural
food - common, concrete, non-count, singular
gold - common, concrete, non-count, singular
boys’ - common, concrete, count, plural, possessive
loyalty - common, abstract, count, singular
jury - common, abstract*, collective, count, singular/plural
grammar - common, abstract, count**, singular
March - proper, abstract, count, singular
fragrance - common, concrete, count, singular
men’s - common, concrete, count, plural, possessive
company - common, abstract*, collective, count, singular
surprise - common, abstract, count, singular
trouble - common, abstract, count, singular
English horn - common, concrete, count, singular
11
sunrise - common, concrete, count, singular

boy’s - common, concrete, count, singular, possessive
Lions’ Club - proper, abstract, collective, count, singular, “Lions’ possessive
broccoli - common, concrete, count, singular and plural
* debatable
** could be counted if referring to more than one, e.g. Upper /Lower Canada,
French/English Canada, etc.
Exercise 26: Personal Pronouns

1. Did you give him his book?
2. I saw them eating their lunch myself
3. He may have taken her coat, but mine is on the desk.
4. Cheryl gave her cold to them.
5. My sister, her husband and their children visited your mother.
Exercise 27: Personal Pronouns - Person, Number, Gender

A. 1. First person plural C. We, us, our, ours, ourselves
2. Third person singular D. She, her, hers, herself
3. Second person singular F. You, your, yours, yourselves
4. Third person plural B. They, them, their, theirs, themselves
5. First person singular A. I, me, my, mine, myself
B.
1. I - 1st person singular they - 3rd person plural my - 1st person singular
your - 2nd person singular
2. They - 3rd person plural it - 3rd person singular theirs - 3rd person plural
they - 3rd person plural its - 3rd person singular
3. you - 2nd person singular/plural her - 3rd person singular feminine
you - 2nd person singular/plural yours - 2nd person singular/plural
4. They - 3rd person plural we - 1st person plural our -1st person plural

Answers will vary.

Answers will vary.

12
1. he 2. he 3. her 4. You
5. me 6. he, I 7. they, they 8. those, their
9. Its, it’s 10. his, her 11. me 12. Your, you’re

Answers will vary. Have your instructor check your answer. The following is an
example of how you may have rewritten the paragraph.
Tim Maxwell recently purchased a car. It is a 1989 Buick LeSabre. Although
his car is not a new one, it had not been driven very far when he bought it. It
had travelled only 800 kilometres! That is not very many kilometres for a car
as old as his. His car is just like a new one. It had been in an old lady's
garage since her husband died in early 1990.
1. Al met John and her at the movies. Read the sentence without John .
Al met she at the movies. That doesn’t sound right. Your other choice is her,
so try Al met her at the movies. Her is the right choice.
2. Laura and she had hamburgers for lunch.
3. I took those clothes to the cleaners yesterday. The pronoun them never goes
with a noun.
4. We sent her some flowers..
5. Mary drove Paul and me to the mall.

Read the sentence as though only one person got a ride. Mary drove I to the
mall. Now it’s easy to tell that me is the wrong pronoun to select.
6. Leo and she gave you the coffee money on Monday.

To find the right choice, read the sentence as though only the woman gave the
money. Her gave....
The word yous does not exist.
7. Could he and I could go to the game? (Try the sentence with each pronoun
separately, and break up the sentence as follows: Could him go to the game?
13
Could he go to the game? The second sentence sounds better. Now the other
pronoun choice. Could me go to the game? Could I go to the game?
Again, the second sentence sounds better. Therefore, the correct pronoun
selections in this sentence are he and I.)
8. You and your husband should prepare yourselves for some bad news.
The pronoun yourself is singular. In this sentence, two people should be
preparing themselves. The plural version of this pronoun is the right one.
14
9. They kept the secret from Jack and me.

Read the sentence as if only one person did not know the secret. They kept
the secret from I.
10. The man standing outside is he. (This is tricky and may not sound right.but
try switching the sentence around. Him is the man outside. He is the man
outside. The second choice makes more sense, and is the correct pronoun
selection in this instance.)
11. Jane's best friend was I.

Use the same strategy as in sentence 11. Me was Jane's best friend. I was
Jane's best friend. Decide which sentence sounds the best. The obvious
choice is the pronoun I.
12. Those (or these) people pushed in line ahead of me!

This mistake is often heard in speech. The pronoun them is NEVER used to
go along with a noun.

1. They 2. Her 3. Your 4. Mine
5. Its (Remember that the personal pronoun has not apostrophe. It’s means “it is”.

A. Your instructor will check your answer.
B.
1. His.........president
2. Their, themselves........managers
3. Them........students; those.......books
4. Their.........jury (used in this sentence as a plural)
5. It.......family (used as a single unit)
6. Her.....one (Girls is not the antecedent. Only one person received a trophy.)
7. Their......family (showing that each individual family member acts
separately)
8. Ourselves......we
9. These......donations
10. His or her.......student (3rd person singular, the gender is not clear)
15

Answers may vary. (It is important to understand that too many pronouns
make the meaning of a sentence unclear. As well, a pronoun always refers to the
noun closest to it (in front of it)
1. Philip gave her a present. (Philip bought the present.)
Philip gave her Donna’s present. (Donna bought the present.)
Philip gave her the present that he had bought for Marilyn.
2. Norm and Al filled Al’s (or Norm’s) basket with apples from Fredericton.
Norm and Al filled Jim’s basket with apples from Fredericton.
3. Each member of the class asked his or her mother to help at the bake sale.
4. The police officer told the driver, “You deserved this ticket, and you should
pay it.”
5. The audience clapped for the actors’ performance.
Exercise 36: Indefinite Pronouns

1. Does anybody know his or her Social Insurance Number?
2. Each of those buyers should consult his or her supervisors.
3. Max and Helen sang at their mutual friends' wedding.
4. None of the boys has paid for his bus ticket.
5. Several of the men have paid their dues.
6. No one should submit his or her report later than tomorrow.
7. The deer hurt its leg when it jumped the fence.
8. A few forgot their lunches.
9. Many hens have escaped from their pen.
10. A few of us have received our marks.
Exercise 37: Demonstrative Pronouns

A. 1. This 2. That 3. Such 4. These, those 5. That
Exercise 38: Reflexive, Emphatic, Reciprocal Pronouns

1. Himself reflexive.....an action he did to himself
2. Each other reciprocal
3. Yourself emphatic......no one else washed it
4. One another reciprocal
5. Yourself reflexive
6. Myself emphatic
16
7. Themselves emphatic
8. Herself reflexive
9. Himself, herself reflexive
10. Ourselves reflexive
Exercise 39: Interrogative Pronouns

1. Who 2. What 3. ----- 4. ---- 5. (To) whom
6. Which 7. ---- 8. Which 9. What 10. ----

1. Some students use PRIDE with 3 Rs and 2 Is. (PRRRIIDE)
P personal
R reflexive
R reciprocal
R relative
I indefinite
I interrogative
D demonstrative
E emphatic
B.
1. you.....personal pronoun, 2nd person, singular or plural, refers to person(s)
who are present
that.....demonstrative pronoun, singular
it.....personal pronoun, 3rd person singular, neuter (no gender), replaces the
noun accident
me.....personal pronoun, 1st person singular, refers to person who is speaking
2. themselves......emphatic pronoun, 3rd person plural, refers to the noun
children
it......personal pronoun, 3rd person singular
3. What.....interrogative pronoun
anyone.....indefinite pronoun, singular
that.....demonstrative pronoun
4. She.....personal pronoun, 3rd person, singular, feminine
herself.....reflexive pronoun, 3rd person, singular, feminine
any......indefinite pronoun
her......personal pronoun, 3rd person, singular, feminine
5. He......personal pronoun, 3rd person, singular, masculine
17
his......personal pronoun, 3rd person, singular, masculine, shows possession,

modifies the noun boss
that.....relative pronoun, used as a conjunction to join two ideas
those.....demonstrative pronoun, plural, refers to a plural noun mentioned
previously
which.....relative pronoun, used as a conjunction to join two ideas
you......personal pronoun, 2nd person, singular or plural
6. That.....demonstrative pronoun, singular
that......relative pronoun, used as a conjunction joining two ideas
someone......indefinite pronoun
you......personal pronoun, 2nd person, singular or plural
7. their.....personal pronoun, 3rd person, plural, masculine and/or feminine,
shows possession, modifies the noun bill
them......personal pronoun, 3rd person, plural, masculine and/or feminine
they.....personal pronoun, 3rd person, plural, masculine and/or feminine, refers
to a plural noun mentioned previously
it......personal pronoun, 3rd person, singular, no gender, refers to a singular
noun mentioned previously.
8. My.....personal pronoun, 1st person, singular, shows possession, modifies the
noun attempt, refers to the person speaking
I.....personal pronoun, 1st person, singular, refers to the person speaking
I.....(as above)
it.....personal pronoun, 3rd person, singular, neuter, refers to a “whole” idea
(the first attempt was a failure)
9. Which.....interrogative pronoun
both......indefinite pronoun, plural, refers to the noun choices
them.....personal pronoun, 3rd person, plural, refers to pronoun both which
refers to the noun choices
10. itself......emphatic pronoun

1. all.....indefinite pronoun
my.....personal pronoun
2. who.....interrogative pronoun
3. they.....personal pronoun
themselves......reflexive pronoun
4. You.....personal pronoun
18
that.....demonstrative pronoun
them.....personal pronoun
you......personal pronoun
5. who......relative pronoun
each other......reciprocal pronoun
6. your......personal pronoun (used as an adjective)
he......personal pronoun
mine......personal pronoun, possessive
7. We......personal pronoun
you.....personal pronoun
who.....relative pronoun
that......demonstrative pronoun
8. We.....personal pronoun
ourselves......emphatic pronoun
9. yourselves......reflexive pronoun
what.....interrogative pronoun
I.......personal pronoun
those.......demonstrative pronoun
10. Something.......indefinite pronoun

1. 1st person plural C.
interrogative pronoun F. or I.
reciprocal pronoun B
relative pronoun F. or I.
indefinite pronoun (plural) K.
demonstrative pronoun A.
indefinite pronoun (singular) E.
possessive pronoun J.
reflexive pronoun H.
a word that doesn’t exist G
2. Pronouns are used to replace or refer to nouns and to make sentences more
interesting and less repetitive.
19
3. a. she b. himself c. me
d. which e. its f. your
g. their h. those i. him
j. themselves
5. A. is incorrect
6. D. is correct
7. B. correctly completes the sentence.
8. A. Few.....indefinite pronoun, plural

B. Those.....demonstrative pronoun, plural
mine.....personal pronoun, 1st person, singular, shows possession
C. which.....relative pronoun
themselves.....reflexive pronoun, 3rd person, plural, refers to companies
D. Who.....interrogative pronoun
anything......indefinite pronoun, singular
this......demonstrative pronoun, singular
E. yourself......reflexive pronoun, singular
something......indefinite pronoun
Exercise 43: Action Verbs

A. Answers will vary.
Exercise 44: Linking Verbs

Answers will vary.

1. jumped.....action 2. hit.....action
3. smashed.....action 4. watched.....action
5. were.....linking 6. is.....linking
7. was.....linking 8. will be.....linking
9. were.....linking 10. feared.....action
20
11. squeaked.....action 12. were.....linking

13. drove.....action 14. believed.....action
15. tasted.....action

1. smells.....linking 2. looks.....linking
3. looked.....action 4. became......linking
5. coughed.....action 6. know.....action
7. Close......action 8. felt.....action
9. felt.....linking 10. howl.....action
11. fell, broke.....action 12. sings, dances......action
13. slammed, drove.....action 14. publishes.....action
15. tastes.....linking
Exercise 47: Action and Linking Verbs

Answers may vary.
Exercise 48: Auxiliary Verbs and Main Verbs
SENTENCE MAIN HELPING

VERB VERB(S) (IF
ANY)
1. Heather will rarely drive the car in winter. drive will
2. He must have taken my jacket by mistake. taken must have
3. We played ball against their team Saturday. played ----------
4. That would have confused anyone! confused would have
5. Would you please flip the hamburgers? flip would
6. There was a good show on TV last night. was -------
7. Mitchell has lived here all his life. lived has
8. I will not be going, not after the last trip. going will be
9. The men should have eaten that by now. eaten should have
21
10. The washing machine has broken down. broken has

11. Have you ever heard such nonsense. heard have
12. He might have consulted a doctor. consulted might have
13. Sue may never have been given that letter. given may have been
14. I shall never agree to his proposal. agree shall
15. A child can easily learn this song. learn can

A. kicks.....simple present
B. is kicking......present progressive
C. will kick......simple future
D. has been kicking......present perfect progressive
E. has kicked.....present perfect
F. will have kicked......future perfect
G. had kicked......past perfect
H. will be leaving......future progressive
I. was giving......past progressive
J. had been learning......past perfect progressive

1. B.
2. A.
3. D.
4. C.
5. B.
6. A.
7. They will have washed the laundry by then. Answers may vary.
8. He has talked to the Lions’ Club before. Answers may vary.
9. Vanessa was signing her lease. Answers may vary.
10. The couple will be needing even more room soon.
11. It had been snowing for three days. Answers may vary.
12. We have been thinking about you lately. Answers may vary.
Exercise 51: Irregular Verbs

22
1-3. Answers may vary.

4.
A. Present progressive
B. Simple past
C. Present perfect
D. Future perfect
E. Future progressive
F. Past perfect
G. Simple past
23

1. Passive
2. Active
3. Active
4. Passive
5. Passive
6. Active
7. Passive
8. Passive
9. Passive
10. Passive
11. Active
12. Active
13. Active
14. Passive
15. Active

Answers will vary.

Answers will vary.

Remember that it is impossible to decide on a word’s part of speech until it is
used in a sentence.

2. Will show 3. Have eaten
3rd person plural 2nd person (singular or plural)
simple future present perfect
active voice active voice
4. Had been asked 5. Has been asking

3rd person singular 3rd person singular
past perfect present perfect progressive
passive voice active voice
24
The committee had asked

25
6. Will be served 7. Spoke

3rd person singular 3rd person singular
simple future simple past
“The waiter” will serve
8. Shall be seeing 9 a). Was bitten

1st person singular 3rd person singular,
future progressive simple past
active voice passive voice
The dog bit the boy
9 b) Was destroyed 10 a) Are

3rd person singular (neuter) 3rd person plural (m or f)
simple past simple present
“The vet” destroyed
10 b) Are 11. Walks
3rd person plural 3rd person singular
simple present simple present
12. Am doing 13. Will have been playing

1st person singular 3rd person singular
present progressive future perfect progressive
14. Is dating 15. Had been repainted

3rd person singular 3rd person plural, neuter
present progressive past perfect
active voice passive voice
“The painter” had just repainted
Nouns Pronouns Verbs
1. planes, Gander, ice, wings its landed
2. sister, bike, office my, her rides
3. Tom everything, that, them says, is
26
4. men both, those were

5. company, parts us buys
6. sister, Spanish my, herself was teaching
7. problems something, each should be done
8. airport they, each other might find
9. ---- you were thinking
10. results everyone, they is finished,
will announce

1. Kevin.....noun, proper, concrete, singular
gave.....verb, 3rd person, singular, simple past, active voice
me.....pronoun, personal, 1st person singular
Marion’s......noun, possessive, proper, concrete, singular
card......noun, common, concrete, singular
2. Aunt Gladys.....noun, proper, concrete
lives.....verb, 3rd person, singular, simple present, active voice
my......pronoun, personal, 1st person, singular, possessive,
mother’s......noun, possessive, common, concrete, singular
3. jury......noun, common, concrete, singular, collective
is discussing.....verb, 3rd person, singular, present progressive, active voice
its......pronoun, personal, 3rd person, singular, possessive
decision......noun, common, concrete, singular
4. chefs.....noun, common, concrete, singular
are being asked......verb, 3rd person, plural, present progressive, passive voice
their.....pronoun, personal, 3rd person, plural, possessive
recipes.....noun, common, concrete, plural
5. all......pronoun, indefinite, plural
these.....pronoun, demonstrative, plural
will sell.....verb, 3rd person, plural, simple future, active voice
Exercise 59:Nouns, Pronouns, and Verbs

1. I......pronoun, personal, 1st person singular
am......verb, linking, 1st person singular, simple present
decision.......noun, common, concrete, singular
2. Your......pronoun, personal, 2nd person, singular or plural, possessive
choices.....noun, common, concrete, plural
27
seem......verb, linking, 3rd person, plural, simple present

3. Luke.....noun, proper, singular
is talking.....verb, action 3rd person, singular, present progressive, active voice
his.....pronoun, personal, 3rd person, singular, masculine, possessive
girlfriend.....noun, common, concrete, singular
phone.....noun, common, concrete, singular
4. He.....pronoun, personal, 3rd person singular
was going.....verb, action, 3rd person, singular, past progressive, active voice
5. You......pronoun, personal, 2nd person, singular/plural
have written.....verb, 2nd person, singular/plural, present perfect, active voice
letter.....noun, common, concrete, singular
6. money.....noun, common, concrete, non-count, singular
you......pronoun, personal, 2nd person, singular/plural
will need......verb, 2nd person, singular/plural, simple future, active voice
7. He.....pronoun, personal, 3rd person, singular, masculine
had watched.....verb, 3rd person, singular, past perfect, active voice
TV......noun, common, concrete, singular
hour......noun, common, concrete, singular
8. Oprah.....noun, proper, concrete, singular
has changed.....verb, 3rd person, singular, present perfect, active voice
people’s......noun, common, concrete, plural, possessive
attitudes.....noun, common, concrete, plural
honesty.....noun, common, abstract, singular
9. Tony.....noun, proper
will have finished......verb, 3rd person, singular, future perfect, active voice
course......noun, common, concrete, singular
June......noun, proper
10. We.....pronoun, personal, 1st person, plural
were walking......verb, 1st person, plural, past progressive, active voice
beach.....noun, common, concrete, singular
accident.....noun, common, concrete, singular.
Exercise 60: Review of Nouns and Pronouns

1. He.....pronoun, personal, 3rd, singular, masculine
smelled......verb, action, 3rd, singular, simple past, active voice
bread.....noun, common, concrete, non-count,
his......pronoun, personal, 3rd, singular, masculine, used as an adjective
28
mouth.....noun, common, concrete, count, singular

watered.....verb, action, 3rd, singular, simple past, active voice
2. storm......noun, common, concrete, count, singular
grew......verb, linking, 3rd, singular, simple past,
night.....noun, common, concrete, count, singular
approached......verb, action, 3rd, singular, simple past, active voice
3. It.....pronoun, personal, 3rd singular
afternoon......noun, common, concrete, count, singular
4. They.....pronoun, personal, 3rd, plural
were.....verb, linking verb, 3rd person, plural, simple past
reservations......noun, common, concrete, plural
Cuba......noun, proper
5. Many.....pronoun, indefinite, plural
colours.......noun, common, concrete, plural
are being changed.....verb, 3rd person, plural, present progressive, passive
decorator......noun, common, concrete, singular
6. Her.....pronoun, personal, 3rd person, singular, possessive
relatives......noun, common, concrete, plural
were eating......verb, 3rd person, plural, past progressive, active voice
their.....pronoun, personal, 3rd, plural, possessive
lunch.....noun, common, concrete, count, singular
porch.....noun, common, concrete, count, singular
heat.....noun, common, concrete, non-count, singular
7. Those.....pronoun, demonstrative, plural
were made......verb, action, 3rd, plural, simple past, passive voice
these.....pronoun, demonstrative, plural
come.....verb, action, 3rd, plural, simple present, active voice
Sackville.....noun, proper, concrete,
8. What.....pronoun, interrogative
has seen.....verb, action, 3rd, singular/plural, present perfect, active voice
9. Will complete.....verb, action, 2nd, singular/plural, simple future, active voice
survey.....noun, common, concrete, count, singular
10. Liz.....noun, proper, concrete, singular, feminine
drove.....verb, action, 3rd, singular, past perfect, active voice
herself.....pronoun, reflexive, 3rd, singular, feminine
Central Hospital.....noun, proper, concrete
29

Adjectives Nouns modified
1. The, rough, uneven road
2. an, old, rusty car
my space
3. the child
the, sugary, sweet icing
the, big spoon
4. a, ragged string
dusty, light* bulb
5. a, boring, depressing day
6. those, six people
7. this trip
several days
8. spicy, Mexican food
9. Shelley, Tim’s* house
10. The, little girl
big, sparkling, blue eyes
11. these parcels
12. our cousins
huge, juicy apples
13. some, light, summer* clothes
14. Karl’s*, hockey*, dull skates
15. two, sweet, lovable cats
the, dining room* table
* These words are technically nouns but when used to describe another noun, they
can be identified as adjectives.

The young hikers walked through the dark woods. A few boys knew that they were
lost, but most simply enjoyed the sweet smell of dried pine needles and autumn
leaves that littered the ground. The weather was warm, and the hills were gentle,
but as they continued on their way the sunlight became paler. The youngest boys
started to ask their Scout leader when they could stop and eat their sandwiches. He
told them that they would have to wait until they reach the little lake on the other
side of the steep blue ridge ahead. After two long hours, the group of tired boys
still had not reached the isolated lake that was their final destination, and one older
30
boy suggested that they set up camp beside a babbling brook. They set up their
canvas tents, lit a huge crackling fire, and ate their supper. Just as they were
climbing into their snug sleeping bags, they saw a beam of light, bright and narrow,
piercing the inky darkness. With relief, the leader realized that they were six miles
south of where they should have been. The car was obviously travelling on the
Black River Road and they were only a mile or two from Mr. Jensen’s chicken
farm. They weren’t lost at all!

1. yesterday.....when carefully.....how
2. casually.....how too......how casually
3. where......interrogative adverb now.....when
4. Why......interrogative adverb very.....how quickly
5. quite......how useful efficiently.....how more...how efficiently
6. there.....where later.....when extremely.....how
important
7. never...when
8. really.....how exciting
9. not......negative very.....how good
10. almost......when never.......when
Exercise 64: Adverbs Modifying Verbs, Adjectives, and Adverbs

1. politely modifies the verb asked
2. thoughtfully modifies the verb chewed
3. daily modifies the verb review
4. tightly modifies the verb packed
5. very modifies the adjective happy
6. sincerely modifies the adjective grateful
7. deeply modifies the adjective tanned
8. fast modifies the verb travel; very modifies the adverb fast
9. really modifies the adjective tired
10. leisurely modifies the verb strolled
Exercise 65: Distinguishing Between Adjectives and Adverbs

1. Well. The sentence describes how she behaves. An adverb is needed to
31
modify the verb behaves. Good is an adjective, so well, an adverb, is the

best choice.
2. Sad. Feels is a linking verb and it needs an adjective to complete it. Sad is
an adjective; sadly is an adverb.
3. Really. Sure is an adjective completing the linking verb am. An adverb is
required to modify the adjective. Really is an adverb; real is an adjective.
4. Simple. An adjective is needed to complete the linking verb were. Simple is
an adjective; simply is an adverb.
5. Well. Although well is usually an adverb, it is used as an adjective when
speaking of someone’s health.
6. Slowly. An adverb is needed to describe how the work was done. Slowly is
an adverb modifying the verb went.
7. Gradual. This is another linking verb which needs an adjective to complete it.
Gradual is an adjective; gradually is an adverb.
8. Seriously. An adverb is needed to describe how the work is done. Seriously
is an adverb; serious is an adjective.
9. Awful. Feel is a linking verb which needs an adjective to complete its
meaning. Awful is an adjective; awfully is an adverb.
10. Good. Taste is a linking verb. Use the adjective good to complete it.
11. Quickly. An adverb is needed to describe how firefighters should respond.
Quickly is an adverb; quick is an adjective.
12. Calm. An adjective is needed to modify the noun voice. Calm is an
adjective; calmly is an adverb.
13. Badly. An adverb is required to describe how he putted. Badly is an adverb;
bad is an adjective.
14. Brightly. An adverb modifies a verb. Brightly is an adverb describing how
the light shone.
15. Well. The adverb well describes how Paul did on his driver’s test.
Exercise 66: Comparisons with Adjectives and Adverb

1. Smaller. Comparing two people
2. More rapidly
3. More. Comparing snowfall for two months
4. Worse (comparing two things)
5. More difficult (comparing two things)
6. Eldest. Comparing more than two
7. Unique. Unique is an absolute adjective and cannot be compared.
32

A. Answers will vary.
B.
1. For, along, at, of (at the end of)
2. Among, for, of
3. in
4. in, under
5. near, with
6. down, around
7. with, to, at
8. beside, on, of, in, by (on top of)
9. in, for
10. for, to, with
33
C.
1. For shells and pebbles, along the beach, at the end, of the day (at the end of
the day)
2. among the rubble, for pictures, of her mother and father
3. in this store
4. in the world, under my son’s bed
5. near the trees, with the hornets’ nest
6. down the hill, around the corner
7. With the sore ear, to the door, at noon
8. beside the store, on top, of the hill, in 1960, by my son (on top of the hill)
9. in your group, for the conference
10. for the best costume, to the clown, with the funny hat
D.
1. for shells and pebbles.....adverb.....why
along the beach.....adverb.....where
at the end.....adverb......when
of the day.....adjective......modifies the noun end
2. among the rubble.....adverb.....where
for pictures......adverb......why
of her mother and father.....adjective.......modifies the noun pictures
3. in this store......adverb......where
4. in the world.....adjective......modifies the noun socks
under my son’s bed......adverb......where
5. near the trees......adverb.....where
with the hornets’ nest.......adjective.....modifies the noun trees
6. down the hill.....adverb.....where
around the corner.......adverb.....where
7. with the sore ear......adjective.....modifies the noun cat
to the door.....adverb.....where
at noon......adverb.....when
8. beside the store......adjective.....modifies the noun houses
on top......adjective......modifies the noun houses
of the hill......adjective.....modifies the noun top
on top of the hill......can be considered as one prepositional phrase. Some
grammar books call on top of a compound preposition.
in 1960.....adverb.....when
by my son......adverb......how
34
9. in your group....adjective.....modifies the noun women

for the conference.....adjective.....modifies the noun theme
10. for the best costume......adjective......modifies the noun prize
to the clown.....adverb.....where, how
with the funny hat......adjective......modifies the noun clown
Exercise 68: Prepositional Phrases

1. on the roof.....adjective.....modifying the noun men
for two hours.......adverb.....how long
in the heat......adverb.....how, where
2. during the night......adverb.....when
of the water.....adjective......modifying the noun rest
from the basement......adverb.....where
3. near the mall......adverb......where
to the north......adverb......where
of the city limits.....adjective.....modifying the noun north
4. in the kitchen......adjective.....modifying the noun women
under the tables.....adverb.....where
in the closets.....adverb.....where
5. with big hat......adjective.......modifying the noun lady
into the line.....adverb.....where
in front......adverb.....where
of me......adjective......modifying the noun front
in front of me......adverb.....where (can be identified as a single phrase)
at the store......adverb.....where
6. On Fridays.....adverb.....when
of the staff....adjective.....modifying the pronoun all
at the radio station.....adjective....modifying the noun station
at the old mill.....adverb......where
7. In the middle.....adverb......where
of a big spacious lawn.......adjective.....modifying the noun middle
in the middle of a big spacious lawn.....adverb.....where
8. Because of the storm.....adverb......why
from the day care......adjective.....modifying the noun children
at the church......adjective.....modifying the noun day care
around the block......adverb....where
10. After his graduation......adverb.....when
35
in 1992......adjective......modifying the noun graduation

for a job......adjective.....modifying the noun ad
in Manitoba......adjective......modifying the noun Manitoba

1. but 2. not only, but also
3. or 4. either, and, or, and
5. both, and 6. neither, nor
7. however 8. neither, nor
9. not only, but also 10. meanwhile
11. and 12. but
13. yet 14. so
15. as a result

1. because 2. since 3. even though
4. after 5. where 6. since
7. why 8. than 9. whether
10. how 11. before 12. if
13. although 14. because 15. while
16. because 17. although 18. how
19. if 20. why 21. as if
22. unless 23. than 24. after
25. before
B.
1. He paid for her ticket (because he liked her).
2. (Since I first met Sheila and her), she has always been very polite.
3. I won’t be able to go (even though I have the money).
4. After the whale beach itself, local citizens rescued it.
5. I know (where they have hidden the treasure), but I don’t have a map.
But is a conjunction joining two separate and complete ideas.
6. (After the maple trees were damaged), they were cut down.
7. I wonder (why they are leaving so early).
8. Mark knows more (than I do about that case).
9. It isn’t certain (whether they will come or not).
10. The engineer from Mainframe explained (how they would build the bridge).
36
11. (Before they read the book), they fixed it themselves

12. After the lecture, the students asked (if they could stay).
Compare the use of after. In sentence 12, after is a preposition. Why?
13. (Although he is stronger), he couldn’t turn it.
14. (Because you were late), you missed it
15. Thieves broke in (while we were away).
16. The roads were slippery (because the snow was followed by rain).
Compare this with, The roads were slippery because of the snow.
17. (Although it was quite sunny), the wind was cool.
18. I don’t know (how I will get there).
19. (If you are short), you can’t reach that cupboard.
20. The story explained (why people believed in the ghost).
21. He always talks (as if he were an expert).
22. (Unless the Leafs win this game), they are out of the playoffs.
23. Les is five inches taller (than I am).
24. (After he won the gold medal), he turned pro.
25. You just answered my questions (before I asked them).
Exercise 71: Relative Pronouns

1. that 2. that 3. who
4. which 5. who 6. whom
7. who 8. that 9. that
10. that

Answers will vary.
Exercise 74: Review A

1. dogs noun 2. The adjective (article)
make verb pioneers noun
good adjective settle verb
pets noun quickly adverb
for preposition on preposition
young adjective the adjective (article)
children noun small adjective
farms noun
around preposition
37
Gloucester noun
3. your adjective (pronoun) 4. Does verb (auxiliary)

ancestors noun he pronoun
lived verb often adverb
beside preposition go verb (main)
the adjective to preposition
sea noun the adjective
mine preposition beach noun
lived verb during preposition
near preposition the adjective
Moncton noun summer noun
5. Those adjective/pronoun 6. I pronoun

big adjective do verb (aux)
chunky adjective not adverb
pots noun think verb (main)
sell verb their adjective/pronoun
for preposition problems noun
nine adjective now adverb
dollars noun because conjunction
so conjunction I pronoun
you pronoun do verb (aux)
can verb (aux) not adverb
buy verb (main) have verb (main)
several pronoun time noun
of preposition
them pronoun
7. Casually adverb 8. Everyone pronoun

the adjective recognized verb
thieves noun his adjective/pronoun
surveyed verb courage noun
the adjective and conjunction
neighbourhood noun strength noun
until conjunction even if conjunction
they pronoun he pronoun
38
spotted verb did verb (aux)

the adjective not adverb
right adjective
house noun
9. Lilacs noun 10. Mark noun

always adverb smelled verb
smell verb the adjective
wonderful adjective skunk noun
in preposition and conjunction
spring noun left verb
the adjective
area noun
immediately adverb
11. The adjective 12. She pronoun

students noun believes verb
in preposition in preposition
this adjective/pronoun his adjective/pronoun
program noun ability noun
are verb
very adverb
hard adjective
workers noun
13. The adjective 14. He pronoun

frail adjective has verb (aux)
old adjective always adverb
lady noun been verb (main)
is verb a adjective
safe adjective really adverb
but conjunction excellent adjective
unhappy adjective hockey adjective/noun
at preposition coach noun
the adjective
seniors’ adjective/noun
home noun
39
15. You pronoun

must verb (aux)
never adverb
show verb (main)
your adjective/pronoun
fear noun
of preposition
snakes noun
to preposition
your adjective/pronoun
children noun
Exercise 75: Review B

1. Fred noun 2. Usually adverb
sat verb the adjective
on preposition chairs noun
the adjective were verb (aux)
fence noun placed verb (main)
and conjunction near preposition
ate verb the adjective
his adjective/pronoun windows noun
lunch noun but conjunction
while conjunction today adverb
the adjective they pronoun
others noun are verb
went verb in preposition
into preposition a adjective
town noun circle noun
3. I pronoun 4. Very adverb

had verb (aux) quickly adverb
been verb (aux) they pronoun
studying verb (main) finished verb
for preposition their adjective/pronoun
three adjective work noun
hours noun
and conjunction
40
I pronoun
still adverb
do verb (aux)
not adverb
know verb (main)
it pronoun
5. They pronoun 6. After conjunction

had verb they pronoun
been verb had verb
writing verb mowed verb
their adjective/pronoun the adjective
essays noun lawn noun
before conjunction they pronoun
they pronoun bought verb
went verb lunch noun
there adverb
7. Because conjunction 8. Although conjunction

they pronoun the adjective
have verb storm noun
cashed verb was verb
their pronoun very adverb

cheques noun intense adjective
they pronoun the adjective
have verb damage adjective
some adjective was verb
money noun minor adjective
9. Since preposition 10. Because of preposition

the adjective her adjective/pronoun
accident noun problems noun
the adjective Sue noun
victims noun often adverb
have verb seeks verbs
recovered verb my adjective/pronoun
41
quite adverb advice noun

well adverb
11. Have verb 12. The adjective

you pronoun elderly adjective
ever adverb waiter noun
seen verb who conjunction
those adjective served verb
boats noun us pronoun
in preposition beer noun
the adjective is verb
harbour noun an adjective
before adverb old adjective
of preposition
hers pronoun
13. Who pronoun 14. Where adverb

thinks verb did verb
that conjunction you pronoun
these adjective hide verb
train adjective/noun the adjective
tickets noun candy noun
are verb which conjunction
ours pronoun I pronoun
and conjunction bought verb
those pronoun
are verb
theirs pronoun
15. Ouch interjection 16. Miles’ noun/adjective

that adjective brother noun
knife noun is verb
is verb extremely adverb
so adverb intelligent adjective
sharp adjective even if conjunction
that conjunction he pronoun
42
I pronoun can verb

cut verb not adverb
myself pronoun pass verb
badly adverb those adjective
provincial adjective
exams noun
17. Hey interjection 18. Finally adverb

Eric noun his adjective/pronoun
did verb clever adjective
you pronoun tricks noun
complete verb failed verb
that adjective
work noun
on preposition
those adjective
cars noun
during preposition
the adjective
weekend noun
19. The adjective

Canadian adjective
economy noun
is verb
becoming verb
worse adjective
very adverb
quickly adverb

Grammar: Part I: Academic Studies English

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Grammar: Part I: Academic Studies English

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Grammar: Part I: Academic Studies English

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

ACADEMIC STUDIES

Support Materials and Exercises

Content and Structure:

Leslie Childs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . English Curriculum Content Expert

Angela Acott-Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . Project Co-ordinator

Kay Curtis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Literacy Co-ordinator

This document is available full-text on the World Wide Web thanks to

BAU-ENG 6.5 PARTS OF SPEECH

TEACHING POINTS Level

TEACHING POINTS Lev

Nouns 1 Types: common & proper 7

1. The first grammar module,Parts of Speech, presents information and exercises to

6. Alternate support materials may be appropriate.

WHY STUDY GRAMMAR? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

WHAT ARE THE PARTS OF SPEECH? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

A CLOSER LOOK AT NOUNS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

A CLOSER LOOK AT PRONOUNS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

A CLOSER LOOK AT VERBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

A CLOSER LOOK AT ADJECTIVES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

A CLOSER LOOK AT ADVERBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

A CLOSER LOOK AT PREPOSITIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

SOME COMMON GRAMMAR MISTAKES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Your sentence probably looks something like this.

1. The man is throwing the ball.

You might even have written

3. The ball is being thrown by the pitcher.

Ball throwing man the the is.

B. WHY STUDY GRAMMAR?•

C. WHAT ARE THE PARTS OF SPEECH?•

Although English has hundreds of thousands of words, every one can be

The eight parts of speech are

Paul is a noun that names a person. Can you find 10

She saw it when they bought it.

Everybody was glad when it was over.

It barked loudly and then wagged its tail.

We were surprised when they did the laundry themselves.

9. A sentence is not a sentence without at least one verb.

The pitcher threw the ball to the catcher.

I have finished the laundry.

Alex and Jim were unhappy with their marks.

An adjective is a word which describes or modifies a noun or pronoun. A

the white, puffy clouds

Here’s another way of thinking of adjectives.

Compare the meaning of these two sentences.

A REVIEW OF WHAT YOU HAVE READ SO FAR ABOUT ADJECTIVES:

L an adjective is a word that modifies a noun or a pronoun;

L an adjective tells how many, as in many days, few hours, couple of

L an adjective tells which one or ones, as in those books, this restaurant,

L articles are also adjectives - a, the, and an.

I could see that he had a glass eye.

Adjectives are sometimes hard to find. A good “trick” to remember is that

1. ADVERBS MODIFY VERBS•

How is he driving? He is driving quickly.

2. ADVERBS MODIFY ADJECTIVES

In the following sentence, the noun sunset is described as beautiful. What

The campers saw a beautiful sunset.

The campers saw a very beautiful sunset.

3. ADVERBS MODIFY OTHER ADVERBS

Adverbs may also be used to modify other adverbs.