Basic Grammar
Parts of speech and a little more
It is a cliché: learn the rules before breaking them. Unfortunately, many writers lack basic knowledge of grammar. American schools stopped asking students to diagram sentences many years ago. Possibly worse, American English dictionaries and grammar guides increasingly accept non-standard word usage. Although far from comprehensive, this writer’s guide to basic grammar might prove useful.
Parts of Speech
The basic parts of speech are noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, interjection, and various “doubles.”
Noun (n.)
A noun is a person, place, thing, collection, quality, condition, or idea. Many modern texts abbreviate this definition as person, place, thing, or idea. A proper noun is a name of a particular person or thing and is capitalized. Other nouns are referred to as common nouns. Titles of books or other creative materials are proper nouns. [More Detail]
Pronoun (pr.)
A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a preceding noun or an understood subject. Pronouns often are used to avoid repeating a noun within a sentence or paragraph. The noun that appears within a passage before the pronoun is called the pronoun’s antecedent. [More Detail]
| Subject | Object (Nominative) | Possessive Adjective | Possessive |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | me | my | mine |
| we | us | our | ours |
| you | you | your | yours |
| he | him | his | his |
| she | her | hers | hers |
| it | it | its | its |
| they | them | their | theirs |
| who | whom | whose | whose |
Verb (v.)
Most verbs make a statement, ask a question, or give a command. Conjugations of the verb “to be” express a state of being. Verbs are a complex part of speech because they convey the purpose of a sentence. [More Detail]
The tense of a verb describes an action’s relationship to time. Present tense verbs usually end in -ing. Past tense verbs often end in -ed, d, or t. We have compiled a list of common irregular verbs.
Verbals: Participles, Gerunds, and Infinitives
There are three special forms of verbs: participles, gerunds, and infinitives. A participle is a verb used as an adjective. Participles are doubles. Verbs ending in -ing act as nouns and are known as gerunds. The infinitive of a verb is the word to followed by the first person present tense form of the verb. Note: to be is an exception to this rule.
Conjugations of “To Be”
| Present Tense | Past Tense | Auxiliaries | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I am | We are | I was | We were | is | have | may | ||
| You are | You are | You were | You were | am | has | might | ||
| He is | They are | She was | They were | are | had | must | ||
| Future Tense | Future Perfect | was | do | can | ||||
| I shall be | We shall be | I shall have (been) | We shall have (been) | were | does | could | ||
| You will be | You will be | You will have (been) | You will have (been) | be | did | shall | ||
| She will be | They will be | He will have (been) | They will have (been) | being | should | |||
| Present Perfect | Past Perfect | been | will | |||||
| I have been | We have been | I had been | We had been | would | ||||
| You have been | You have been | You had been | You had been | |||||
| He has been | They have been | He had been | They had been | |||||
Adjective (adj.)
A word that describes a noun or pronoun. Adjectives modify nouns and pronouns by answering “which?” “what kind?” or “how many?” Adjectives frequently refer to color, shape, size, origin, or type. [More Detail]
Adjectives have three degrees of comparison: positive, comparative, and superlative. The positive degree is the standard form of the adjective. The comparative compares two nouns and is formed by adding -er to the adjective. A superlative compares one noun to any number of others and is formed by adding -est. Some multi-syllable adjectives require the word more for the comparative form and most for the superlative.
Adjective Suffixes
able/ible
al
an
ant
ary
ed
en
ent
ern
esque
ful
ic
ile
ish
ive
less
ose
ous
some
y
Writers should avoid extra adjectives.
- Omit adjectives if the noun implies the meaning. Example: The frozen snow chilled her to the bone. (Snow is frozen.)
- Reserve emotional adjectives for people. Example: The wicked wind destroyed the house. (Wind cannot be wicked.)
- Replace adjective-noun unions with a single, precise, noun. Example:
Preceding the hurricane, the heavy rain flooded streets. (Replace heavy rain with downpour.)
Articles
Articles define “which?” noun. The is a definite article referring to one noun. A and an are indefinite articles.
Adverb (adv.)
Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs by answering “when?” “where?” “how?” “how much?” or “how often?” Many adverbs end in -ly, -ward, -long, and -wise. [More Detail]
Adverbs have three degrees of comparison: positive, comparative, and superlative. The positive degree is the standard form of the adjective. The comparative is formed by preceding the adverb with more. A superlative compares one noun’s manner of action to any number of others and is formed by preceding the adverb with most. Some one syllable adverbs behave like adjectives and use -er for the comparative and -est for the superlative.
Preposition (prep.)
Prepositions express a relationship of a noun or pronoun to another word or phrase in the sentence. Most often a noun or noun equivalent follows the preposition. A prepositional phrase includes the preposition, its object, and any modifiers. [More Detail]
Common Prepositions
about
above
across
after
against
along
amid
among
around
at
behind
before
below
beneath
beside
besides
between
beyond
but
by
despite
down
during
except
for
from
in
inside
into
like
near
of
off
on
onto
opposite
out
outside
over
past
since
through
till
to
toward
under
underneath
until
up
upon
with
within
without
Compound Prepositions
according to
ahead of
apart from
because of
by means of
by way of
in front/back of
in regard to
in reference to
in spite of
instead of
on account of
out of
up to
with respect to
Conjunction (conj.)
A conjunction connects words or groups of words. [More Detail]
Common Conjunctions
and
after
although
as
as if
as though
because
before
but
but that
if
lest
nor
or
provided that
since
so that
than
that
though
till
unless
until
when
whence
whenever
where
wherever
whether
while
Interjection (i.)
An interjection is a word or group of words that express strong or sudden emotions. [More Detail]
Doubles (part/part)
A double is a word that performs the functions of two parts of speech simultaneously. There are six common forms for doubles:
- Possessive nouns act as nouns and adjectives.
- Possessive pronouns act as nouns and adjectives.
- Adverbial nouns act like adverbs and nouns.
- Participles act as verbs and adjectives.
- Gerunds act as verbs and nouns.
- Infinitives act as verbs and nouns; verbs and adjectives; or verbs
and adverbs.
Adverbial Nouns
Adverbial nouns act as adverbs by indicating distance, time, weight, or value. Adverbial nouns are sometimes called adverbial objectives.
The large cat might weigh twenty pounds.
The noun phrase “twenty pounds” answers the adverbial question “how much?” The word “pounds” is a noun.