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IntroductionKnowing the parts of speech and their function in a sentence can help you to speak and write precisely and to avoid errors which can cause confusion. All of the problem-solving topics presented in this online course call for a basic knowledge of parts of speech and sentence elements. This section opens with a self-quiz that will help you to decide if you are ready to move on. If you need to review parts of speech and sentence elements, you can use the tables offered here to find the information you need in the Harbrace or the Bedford handbook. If you do not have either of these handbooks, you may want to print a copy of the tables for reference. How to use this section: Although some parts of this course are set up for browsing, this section should be studied in its presented sequence. Work through each subtopic, checking your knowledge with the self-quizzes and consulting your handbook as needed.
Parts of speech (Bedford 57/Hodges' 1c) All of the words in the English language can be classified into divisions called parts of speech. There are eight main categories and a number of subcategories: nouns pronouns (includes personal and relative) verbs adjectives (includes articles) adverbs (includes conjunctive adverbs) prepositions conjunctions (includes subordinating conjunctions and coordinating conjunctions) interjections For a description of each part of speech, please consult the appropriate section of your handbook. To test your current knowledge, you may want to try the tutorial. This is a quick self-test of your ability to identify parts of speech. For each phrase or clause below, identify the part of speech of the highlighted word. Then click on that word to see if you have identified it correctly. If you are unsure of any parts of speech, please consult your handbook before proceeding with the online course. an unusual occurrence a cat that won't go outside after the thunderstorm a UFO sighting changing her shoes without a care until she leaves Instead, we took the bus. Don't eat them. Therefore, we hope for rain. Aha! I've found it! Courtly love Kindly priest She smells good. Our progress was slow. We progress slowly at first. Singing is her passion. a color photograph
Answers to self-quiz unusual - adjective modifying the noun occurrence
that - relative pronoun
wildly - adverb modifying verb thrashing
sighting - noun
her - possessive pronoun modifying shoes
a - indefinite article
until - subordinating conjunction
instead - conjunctive adverb
them - possessive pronoun
and - coordinating conjunction
therefore - conjunctive adverb
Aha! - interjection
courtly - adjective describing a kind of love
kindly - adjective describing a kind of priest
good - adjective describing she
who - relative pronoun
progress - noun
singing - noun (gerund: a verb acting as a noun)
color - adjective describing photograph
End of tutorial. Scroll down to review the next subtopic, "phrases." Or click here to return to top. Phrases as parts of speech On occasion a group of words can act as a single part of speech. Such words groups are called phrases. Unlike the words groups known as clauses, phrases do not contain both a subject and a verb, and therefore they cannot stand alone. As you review the parts of speech in preparation for further work with the grammar guide, you may want to review a few types of phrases.
Tutorial : Phrases Beth, an avid snorkler, wants to visit Aruba next year. Knowing that travel can be costly, she has started a special savings account. Dreaming of the vacation helps her to avoid wasting money. Her goal firmly established, she can even resist the temptation to buy books on the sale table.
Answers to Phrase Tutorial an avid snorkler - This appositive phrase gives additional information about the noun "Beth," the subject of the sentence. Return to phrase tutorial
to visit Aruba next year - This infinitive phrase serves as a noun and the object of the sentence. It is what Beth wants. Return to tutorial
Knowing that travel can be costly, - This participial phrase serves as an adjective that modifies she, a pronoun and the subject of the sentence. Return to tutorial
Dreaming of the vacation - This gerund phrase serves as a noun and the subject of the sentence. Return to tutorial
to avoid wasting money - This infinitive phrase serves as the object of the verb helps.
Return to tutorial
Her goal firmly established, - This absolute phrase modifies the main clause of the sentence. Return to tutorial
to buy books on the sale table. - This is an infinitive phrase that modifies "temptation." The prepositional phrase "on the sale table" is an adjective modifying books. End of tutorial. Return to top Sentence elementsThe various parts of speech, arranged in logical patterns and sometimes joined into phrases, each serve a specific function in the sentence. The sentence elements are defined by the role they play in creating the meaning and logic of a sentence. You may have learned that all sentences contain a subject and a predicate. The subject names the person or thing the sentence is about, while the predicate consists of everything that is said about the subject. Here we break down the predicate into its parts, as shown in the following table:
Check your understanding of sentence elements. For each sentence below, you are asked to identify a particular sentence element. Click on the corect highlighted word or phrase. Please remember that a phrase can serve the function of a single part of speech or sentence element. 1. Direct object: Sharesa brought her guitar. 2. Object complement: Her music always makes the guests happy. 3. Adverb: My cousin Sherry enjoys dancing under the stars. 4. Verb: I hope you can arrive in time for dinner. 5. Subject: My favorite recipes often require hours of cooking. 6. Mom gave Danny her old truck.
1. Sharesa brought her guitar. The direct object of this sentence is guitar. It is the thing that Sharesa (the subject) brought. Return to tutorial questions
2. Her music always makes the guests happy. The object complement is "happy." An object complement gives additional information about the object, which in this sentence is "guests." Return to tutorial questions
3. Sherry enjoys dancing under the stars. The prepositional phrase "under the stars" serves as an adverb that helps to describe the dancing. Where does Sherry enjoy dancing? "Under the stars." Return to tutorial
4. I hope you can arrive in time for dinner. The verb of this sentence is "hope." The clause "you can arrive in time for dinner" serves as the object of the verb. If you found this clause difficult to identify, imagine that it implies the subordinating conjunction "that." Return to tutorial
5. My favorite recipes often require hours of cooking. The subject is "recipes." The possessive pronoun "my" modifies the subject. Possessive pronouns do not act as subjects. Return to tutorial
6. Mom gave Danny her old truck. "Danny" is the indirect object of the sentence. "Truck" is the direct object. End of tutorial Return to top
Too easy? Griselda hopes so. If you want to check your understanding of more difficult sentences, you can find a second tutorial following the section on clauses Sentence patternsMost English sentences are written in one of the following sequences. As a result, we know what to expect when reading or listening. Knowing these possible patterns will help you to identify and to use correctly the parts of speech and sentence elements.SV (Subject Verb): My little sister knows. SVO (Subject Verb Object): My little sister knows the alphabet. SVIoDO (Subject Verb Indirect Object Direct Object): My little sister tells me her problems. SVSc (Subject Verb Subject Complement): My little sister is hyperactive. SVDOOc (Subject Verb Direct Object Object Complement) My little sister makes me angry. Word groups II: clausesIf all of the writing we encountered or produced were as simple as the examples you have practiced with so far, we would have very few problems with grammar. Yet only the youngest children think and communicate at this level of simplicity. From a very early age we take in and attempt to communicate more complex ideas. The English language is well equipped to help us convey this complexity in clear and consistent ways. The phrases introduced above add complexity and precision to sentences by giving us a little bit more information and detail than a single word can express. For example, it is more precise to write about Susan's singing (a gerund) than Susan's songs. Singing lets us know that Susan is actually performing the music, whereas songs could be written down as well. A second kind of word group, known as clauses, offers a number of additional opportunities to convey complex ideas and the relationships among them. A clause is a group of words that includes a subject and a verb. The verb must be acting like a verb; it cannot be a gerund or participle. A simple sentence is a clause. In addition, there are two kinds of clauses: independent and dependent, or subordinate. An independent clause is actually a sentence. It can stand by itself to express a thought. A dependent clause also contains a subject and a verb, but it also contains at least one other word that prevents it from conveying a complete and logical idea of its own. A dependent clause must be attached to an independent clause with the correct punctuation or with connecting words. The dependent or subordinate clauses in the following examples are underlined:
While Jamie peeled the potatoes, Sam grated some cheese.
Because we had spent our money on pizza, we couldn't eat out last night. Logically, a dependent clause leaves us wanting more information. If someone said to you, "Because we had spent our money on pizza" and then stopped, you would probably wonder what happened as a result. The correct use of subordinate clauses allows us to convey complex relationships and to show the relative value of the ideas within a sentence. Sentence typesThe sentence elements can combine in ways which express both simple and complex ideas. Good writers try to combine these sentence types to achieve both clarity and a pleasing rhythm. Simple: One main clause: Brittany demanded a new car for her sixteenth birthday. Compound: Two clauses of equal weight, joined by a semicolon or coordinating conjunction: Brittany demanded a new car for her sixteenth
birthday, Complex: Two clauses of unequal weight: Because she was rather spoiled, Compound/complex: A combination of elements: Because she was rather spoiled, Brittany demanded a new car for her sixteenth birthday, and her father indulged her. An understanding of the building blocks of sentences--parts of speech, sentences elements, phrases and clauses--will help you to express your meaning clearly and completely.
Tutorial: Recognizing Phrases and Types of ClausesDirections: Using the key below, click on the kind of word group highlighted in a contrasting color. IC=Independent Clause
1. On a day when most Americans can be found doing chores around the house or sleeping in, Lydia Mason, having slept ever so lightly, wakes up on a narrow slice of bald rock.
2. Our professor expressed concern that the long holiday weekend might disrupt the intensity of his student's commitment to the poetry of the English Romantic period.
3. Surround Sound, an audio/visual technology that recently became available to consumers worldwide, has the capability to transform a private living room into a virtual concert hall.
4. Never thinking that she would spend thousands of dollars on sound equipment, my friend Karen visited Best Buy a few days before her husband's birthday, only to find herself soon backing her van up to the store's loading dock.
5. The play having ended, the actors reappeared on the stage, carrying picnic baskets and linen cloths, and, to everyone's surprise, they arranged themselves into clusters of three or four, spread the cloths on the floor, and began nibbling daintily at the contents of the baskets.
6. Does anyone here, excluding those with family ties to the principals in the case, have a sense of the magnitude of the impropriety that has been alleged?
Answers to compound/complex sentence tutorial
1. On a day when most Americans can be found doing chores around the house or sleeping in, Lydia Mason, having slept ever so lightly, wakes up on a narrow slice of bald rock. Subject (s) Correct answer: Lydia Mason The main clause of this sentence begins with the subject, Lydia Mason. The introductory elements include a prepositional phrase, which begins with "on a day" and includes an embedded dependent clause. "Americans" is the subject of this embedded dependent clause.
1. On a day when most Americans can be found doing chores around the house or sleeping in, Lydia Mason, having slept ever so lightly, wakes up on a narrow slice of bald rock. Verb (s) Correct choice: wakes up "Can be found" is the verb of the dependent clause embedded in the prepositional phrase "on a day." "Having slept" is a participial form of the verb "to sleep." It modifies Lydia Mason.
Subject (s) Correct choice: professor "Weekend" is the subject of the dependent clause that begins with "that." This clause serves as an object complement for "concern," the direct object of the sentence. "Commitment" is the object of the prepositional phrase beginning with "of." This phrase modifies "intensity." Now return and choose the verb
2. Our professor expressed concern that the long holiday weekend might disrupt the intensity of his student's commitment to the poetry of the English Romantic period. Verb (s) Correct choice: expressed "Disrupt" is the verb of the subordinate clause which begins with "that."
3. Surround Sound, an audio/visual technology that recently became available to consumers worldwide, has the capability to transform a private living room into a virtual concert hall. Subject Correct choice: "Surround Sound" is a proper noun
which serves as the subject of this sentence. "Technology" is part of an
appositive of Surround Sound.
3. Surround Sound, an audio/visual technology that recently became available to consumers worldwide, has the capability to transform a private living room into a virtual concert hall. Verb (s) Correct choice: has "Became" is the verb of the dependent clause that begins with "that." This dependent clause modifies "technology." The only action associated directly with the subject of this sentence is "has." "Transform" is an infinitive (to transform) which modifies "Capability."
4. Never thinking that she would spend thousands of dollars on sound equipment, my friend Karen visited Best Buy a few days before her husband's birthday, only to find herself soon backing her van up to the store's loading dock. Subject (s) Correct choice: friend "Karen" specifies which friend is being discussed. It serves as an appositive for the subject of the sentence. "She" is the subject of the dependent clause beginning with "that." This clause modifies the phrase "never thinking." Now return and choose the verb
4. Never thinking that she would spend thousands of dollars on sound equipment, my friend Karen visited Best Buy a few days before her husband's birthday, only to find herself soon backing her van up to the store's loading dock. Verb (s) Correct choice: visited "Visited" conveys the action of the subject of the main clause. Both "thinking" and "find" serve as verbs of subordinate elements of the sentence. "Thinking" modifies the subject, "friend." "Find" appears in its infinitive form (to find) as part of an adverbial phrase modifying "visited."
5. The play having ended, the actors reappeared on the stage, carrying picnic baskets and linen cloths, and, to everyone's surprise, they arranged themselves into clusters of three or four, spread the cloths on the floor, and began nibbling daintily at the contents of the baskets. Subject (s) Correct choice: actors and they This is a compound complex sentence. It includes two independent clauses, as well as subordinate elements. The subject of the first clause is "actors." The subject of the second clause is "they." "Play" is part of the absolute phrase "The play having ended." An absolute phrase modifies the entire sentence. Now return and choose the verb
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