People's Democratic Republic of Algeria

Ministry of Higher Education and ScientificResearch

University of Continuous Formation-Sétif
Speciality:English Level: First-year
Teacher:Sara Soumia Boudjadi Module: Grammar

Part One: Parts of Speech

Categorizing words as parts of speech is based on two major principles.
First, a word is not a part of speech until it is written or spoken in a sentence. In other words, a
word is not a part of speech if it is not used in a particular context. This first principle is
important because a word can function as more than one part of speech, depending where it is
located and how it is used in the sentence. For example, the word reading can be used as
different parts of speech:
 Reading is an enjoyable pastime. (Noun)
 She has been reading since she was three. (Verb)
 The reading assignment took me two hours. (Adjective)
Second, words are classified as nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions,
conjunctions, and interjections. Most traditional grammar classifications list the aforementioned
eight parts of speech in English. However, other commonly mentioned part of speech includes
articles.
Verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and adverbs are sometimes called vocabulary words because
they make up more than 99 % of all words listed in the dictionary. Prepositions and
conjunctions, often named function words which connect and relate vocabulary words.

1.Articles: words that modify nouns by indicating whether they are specific or general.

The definite article the is used to refer to a specific version of a noun. The can be used with
all countable and uncountable nouns (e.g., “the door,” “the energy,” “the mountains”).
We use the:
when there is only one such person, place or thing :
 the Pope, the President of the United States, the North Pole, the earth, the sky
before names of famous buildings :
 the Eiffel Tower, the Great Wall of China
before a singular noun that refers to a whole class or group of people or things :
 the middle class, the homeless, the Canadians, the Hindus
before special names of rivers, seas, oceans, mountain ranges, and groups of islands :
 the Nile, the Dead Sea, the Pacific Ocean, the Himalayas
before certain organizations, political parties, and countries :
 the United Nations, the Republican Party, the USSR, and the UAR
before nouns such as places which we know :
 We arrived early at the ferry terminal for our trip to the island.
 We went to the cinema, after which we went to the stadium for a football match.
before abbreviations and initials of countries :
 the BBC (the British Broadcasting Corporation), and the EEC (the European Economic
Community).

the UAR., the UK, the USA and the USSR

The indefinite articles a and an refer to general or unspecific nouns. The indefinite articles can
only be used with singular countable nouns (e.g., “a poster,” “an engine”).
We use a:
when we mention something for the first time :I saw a dog
before a word which begins with a consonant :There is a woman waiting for you.
before a word with a long sound of u: a university, a uniform, a useful book, a European
before the word one because one sounds as if it begins with a W : I have a one-way ticket

The indefinite article a also means one. We can use a or one as follow:
 He keeps a/one dozen snakes as pets.
 I have told you a/one hundred times to leave me alone!

We use an:
before a noun which begins with a vowel sound: They say an apple a day keeps the doctor away.
before a singular noun (person or thing) to mean only one in quantity: She’s an only child.
before a noun that begins with a silent h: an hour, an honest man, an heir, an honour, etc
before abbreviations, some of which begin with a consonant:
 I have an X-ray on my lungs.
 I saw an UFO hovering above my house.
He wanted to be an MP but was not elected to be one.

Zero article means that no article is necessary, especially :

before names of materials: Gold is found in Australia. Not: The gold is found in Australia.
before abstract nouns used in a general sense: Money cannot buy happiness. Not: Money cannot
buy the happiness.
before proper nouns: He is a fan of Michael Jackson. Not: He is a fan of the Michael Jackson.
before languages and nationalities: I studied French. Not: I studied the French.
before sports : I played basketball yesterday .Not : I played the basketball yesterday.
before academic subjects: I studied physics . Not : I studied the physics.
before illnesses: She came down with measles . Not: She came down with the measles.

2.Nouns : words that name people, places, things, ideas, or qualities.

Types of Nouns
Concrete vs. Abstract Nouns
A concrete noun is given to a physical thing, something that can be seen or touched .It refers
to no particular person, animal, place, or thing, but to any at all.
E.g. zoo- key- day- event- needle- language-magazine …
An abstract noun is a vague word. It expresses things that cannot be observed by the senses.
It refers to a quality, an idea, a state of mind, an occasion, a feeling, or a time.
E.g. jealousy – anger- patience- peace-excellence-beauty-sympathy- promise-luck-fear- courage
Common Nouns vs Proper Nouns
A common noun refers to general things. It is not capitalized except if used at the beginning of
sentences.
E.g. book – hair- jewel- sailor- letter…
A proper noun refers to a person, a place, or a particular thing or institution. It is always
capitalized.
E.g. Richard ( People) – Prince Edward –Mr.Bell ( Titles) –London –Mount Everest ( Places) –
The British Broadcasting Corporation –Buckingham Palace ( Building and institution) .
Collective Nouns
Collective nouns are nouns that refer to a group of objects or people. Although they represent
a number of things, they are singular words as they can be made plural.
E.g. class / classes – collection / collections – crowd / crowds – team /teams – herd / herds.

Compound Nouns
A compound noun is a noun that is made up of two or more words.
E.g. blackboard - aftermath- jellyfish- eyelid- floodlight- overcoat- crossroad-headache-
newspaper-airport-birthday…
Countable / Uncountable Nouns
Countable nouns are for things we can count using numbers. They have a singular and a
plural form. The singular form can use the determiner "a" or "an". If you want to ask about the
quantity of a countable noun, you ask "How many?" combined with the plural countable noun.
 E.g. a house- two books -three dogs
Uncountable nouns are for the things that we cannot count with numbers. They may be the
names for abstract ideas or qualities or for physical objects that are too small or too amorphous
to be counted (liquids, powders, gases, etc.). Uncountable nouns are used with a singular verb.
They usually do not have a plural form.
E.g. coffee - salt – sugar

3.Pronouns: substitutes for nouns or noun phrases and whose referents are named or understood
in the context .In other word, a pronoun is a word that is used to replace a noun that has already
been mentioned.
Types of Pronouns
Personal pronouns : They can be subject or object .
Subject like :I ,you , he, she ,it, we ,they .Object like :me, you ,him ,her ,it ,us ,them.
Intensive and reflexive pronouns:

Reflexive pronouns serve as the object of a transitive verb when the object is the same person or
thing as the subject. E.g. “I believe in myself”).

Intensive pronouns are used in combination with another noun or pronoun to place special
emphasis on it .E.g. I myself wrote the code”).

Demonstrative pronouns: they used to stand in for a noun. They are used to point to something
or someone specific. The English demonstrative pronouns are this, that, these, and those.
E.g. “this is my sister”.
Relative pronouns: they relate subordinate clauses to main clauses. The relative pronouns are
who, whose, whom, which, when , where and that.
E.g. This is my sister who graduated last term when Corona Virus started in the city where we
reside.
Interrogative pronouns : they introduce question sentences. The interrogative pronouns are
who, what, when, where, why; whose, whom, which and how.
E.g. Who is in the cellar? What is the date of his birth?
Indefinite pronouns: they refer to particular people, places, or things in a vague and general
manner.
Most indefinite pronouns function as singulars: another-anybody- anyone -anything –each- either
everybody- everyone -neither -nobody no one- one -somebody -someone -something.
Some indefinite pronouns have a plural meaning only: both -several .Other indefinite pronouns
do not clearly express either a singular or plural meaning: all -any -none - some
Reciprocal pronouns: words that are used to indicate a mutual relationship between two
subjects or objects. There are two reciprocal pronouns: each other and one another. Each other
is more applicable when talking about only two people (or things). Using 'one another' is more
relevant when there are more than two people (or things).
E.g. Peter and Mary helped each other. / Students often stayed in one another's houses.

4.Verbs : words that show an action (sing), occurrence (develop), or state of being (exist).
Almost every sentence requires a verb. The basic form of a verb is known as its infinitive.

Verbs can also be classified into two categories dynamic verbs (sometimes referred to as
"action verbs") and stative verbs.
Dynamic verbs usually describe actions we can take, or things that happen.

E.g. play , eat , cry , revise , study .

Stative verbs usually refer to a state of being or condition which is not changing or likely to
change i.e. they have no definitive start or end.

E.g. love; hate; like; see; hear; sound; think (meaning "have an opinion"); mind (meaning "care
about"); recognize; seem; have (meaning "own"); prefer; doubt; consist of; mean

There are some verbs that can be dynamic in some situations, and stative in others, depending on
the context.
E.g. feel, taste, smell, see,have,consider, forget, imagine, remember, think,appear, be, cost,
deny, include, look, sound
I think I fail. (stative verb ) / I am thinking about the exam. (dynamic verb )

5.Adjectives : An adjective is a word that modifies or describes a noun or pronoun.

Types of adjectives
(a) Demonstrative: this, that, these, those
(b) Distributive: each, every, either, and neither
(c) Quantitative: some, any, no, little/few, many, much , one, two , twenty
(d) Interrogative: which, what, whose
(e) Possessive: my, your, his, her, its, our, your, their
(f) Quality: clever, dry, fat, golden, good, heavy, square

6.Adverbs : words that usually modify the meaning of verbs. They may also modify adjectives,
other adverbs, phrases, or even entire sentences.
Manner: bravely, fast, happily, hard, quickly, well
Place: by, down, here, near, there, up
Time: now, soon. still, then, today, yet
Frequency: always, generally, usually , often ,sometimes , occasionally, rarely , never
Degree: extremely , very ,fairly, hardly, rather, quite, too, a bit
Interrogative: when? where? why?

7.Prepositions : word or group of words used before a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase to show
direction, time, place, spatial relationships, or to introduce an object.
Direction : "to," "in," "into," "on," and "onto."
Time : "in," "at," and "on."
Place : "in" (the point itself), "at" (the general vicinity), "on" (the surface), and "inside"
(something contained).
Spatial relationship:"above," "across," "against," "ahead of," "along,"
"among","around","behind,","below","beneath" "beside," "between," "from," "in front of,"
"inside," "near," "off," "out of," "through," "toward," "under,""within."

8.Conjunctions : Words that link other words, phrases, or clauses in a sentence.

Coordinating Conjunctions :Words that link independent clauses. for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so .
They can be remembered using the acronym FANBOYS .

Subordinating Conjunctions: Words that link dependent clauses with independent clauses

E.g. after, , as, as if, as long as, as much as ,as soon as, because ,before ,if, in case ,in order to
,provided that ,since, so , till, unless, until, when ,whenever, whereas ,wherever whether or not,
while…etc
Time and Place Conjunctions: Before / after / til / until / as soon as / when / since /while / as
/once / whenever / wherever/ where

Concession: although / though / even though / despite / inspite of

Purpose: in order to / so as to / so that

Contrast: While / whereas

Cause : as / because / since / due to / because of / owing to

Effect or Result : therefore / thus / hence / as a result / as a consequence

9.Interjections: Words that are used as exclamations or to express feeling.

E.g. Hey! Oh! Darn! Wow

 Part Two: Parts of Sentence
A part of a sentence can consist of one or more parts of speech to construct additional components of language.
Subject, predicate, object, complements,phrases and clauses, are all example of sentence parts.
1.Noun Phrase (NP): A group of words centered around a noun.

Example: The old book on the shelf.

2.Verb Phrase (VP): Consists of a main verb and its auxiliary (helping) verbs.
Example: She has been studying.
3.Adjective Phrase (AdjP): Contains an adjective and its modifiers.
Example: Extremely talented musicians.
4.Adverb Phrase (AdvP): Involves an adverb and its modifiers.
Example: Very quickly, he completed the race.
5.Prepositional Phrase (PP): Begins with a preposition and includes its object .
Example: In the morning, we go for a walk.
6.Gerund Phrase: Built around a gerund (-ing form of a verb) and functions as a noun.
Example: Swimming is her favorite activity.
7..Infinitive Phrase: Involves an infinitive (base form of a verb) and functions as a noun, adjective, or
adverb.
.Example: To win the game is their goal