Gerunds, Participles, and Infinitives Summary: This handout provides a detailed overview (including descriptions and examples) of gerunds, participles, and infinitives. Contributors:Purdue OWLLast Edited: 2011-12-09 01:47:54 A gerund is a verbal that ends in -ing and functions as a noun. Gerund as subject: Traveling might satisfy your desire for new experiences. Gerund as direct object: They do not appreciate my singing. Gerund as subject complement: My cat's favorite activity is sleeping. Gerund as object of preposition: The police arrested him for speeding. A gerund phrase is a group of words consisting of a gerund and the modifier(s) and/or (pro)noun(s) or noun phrase(s) that function as the direct object(s), indirect object(s), or complement(s) of the action or state expressed in the gerund, such as: The gerund phrase functions as the subject of the sentence. Finding a needle in a haystack would be easier than what we're trying to do. The gerund phrase functions as the direct object of the verb appreciate. Punctuation
The Parts of Speech A pronoun can replace a noun or another pronoun. You use pronouns like "he," "which," "none," and "you" to make your sentences less cumbersome and less repetitive. Grammarians classify pronouns into several types, including the personal pronoun, the demonstrative pronoun, the interrogative pronoun, the indefinite pronoun, the relative pronoun, the reflexive pronoun, and the intensive pronoun. Personal Pronouns A personal pronoun refers to a specific person or thing and changes its form to indicate person, number, gender, and case. Subjective Personal Pronouns A subjective personal pronoun indicates that the pronoun is acting as the subject of the sentence. In the following sentences, each of the highlighted words is a subjective personal pronoun and acts as the subject of the sentence: I was glad to find the bus pass in the bottom of the green knapsack. You are surely the strangest child I have ever met. He stole the selkie's skin and forced her to live with him. It is on the counter.
Preposition Rule There is one very simple rule about prepositions. And, unlike most rules, this rule has no exceptions. Rule A preposition is followed by a "noun". It is never followed by a verb. By "noun" we include: noun (dog, money, love)proper noun (name) (Bangkok, Mary)pronoun (you, him, us)noun group (my first job)gerund (swimming) A preposition cannot be followed by a verb. Quick Quiz: In the following sentences, why is "to" followed by a verb? I would like to go now.She used to smoke. Here are some examples: Answer to Quick Quiz: In these sentences, "to" is not a preposition. For a full list of 150 prepositions, including one-word and complex prepositions, with 370 example sentences, download the free EnglishClub e-book English Prepositions Listed.
Grammar Web Guide What I know about grammar is its infinite power. To shift the structure of a sentence alters the meaning of the sentence, as definitely and inflexibly as the position of a camera alters the meaning of the subject photographed. Many people know camera angles now, but not so many know about sentences. -- Joan Didion The term "grammar" can be applied to the description of language behavior as well as to prescriptions for correct language use. For the purposes of this guide, I am going to assume that the second meaning is the operative one here and that teachers seeking Internet help with grammar will sometimes want reference information and at other times will want explanations and exercises that can be given to students. As a comparison of grammar textbooks and workbooks will show, there can be some disagreement about basic terms. Reviewing Grammatical Terms And Concepts Focus On Common Errors Miscellany Grammar Resources on the Web
Adjectives and Adverbs “Parts of speech” are the basic types of words that English has. Most grammar books say that there are eight parts of speech: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, conjunctions, prepositions and interjections. We will add one more type: articles. It is important to be able to recognize and identify the different types of words in English, so that you can understand grammar explanations and use the right word form in the right place. If you are not sure about the basic parts of speech in English, or you would like some more information, try these pages: Parts of Speech (includes determiners which includes articles) The Eight Parts of Speech (doesn't include articles) The Parts of Speech (doesn't include articles) Don't forget to come back here and go on with the exercises! When you are sure that you understand the lesson, you can continue with the exercises.
Comparative Adjectives English Lesson | Kaplan English Blog In English, adjectives are used to describe things. We use comparative adjectives to compare and contrast things that we want to describe. There is a system for creating comparative adjectives. Using this system will help you write and speak more clearly, and will make you a better English speaker! One Syllable Comparative Adjectives Add ‘-er’ to end of an adjectiveExamples: tall/taller; smart/smarter If the word ends in ‘e’, just add an ‘r’ Examples: late/later; large/larger If the word is one-syllable, ends in a single consonant and has a single vowel before it, double the last consonant and add ‘er’Examples: big/bigger; hot/hotter; thin/thinner; Two, Three or More Syllable Comparative Adjectives For most two-syllable adjectives, add “more” before the adjective to form the comparative.Examples: careful/more careful; prepared/more prepared; If the word ends in ‘y’, remove it and add ‘ier’Examples: angry/angrier; shiny/shinier Exceptions Of course, with any rule in English, there are exceptions.
Verb Tenses In English, there are three basic tenses: present, past, and future. Each has a perfect form, indicating completed action; each has a progressive form, indicating ongoing action; and each has a perfect progressive form, indicating ongoing action that will be completed at some definite time. Here is a list of examples of these tenses and their definitions: Simple Forms Present Tense Present tense expresses an unchanging, repeated, or reoccurring action or situation that exists only now. Past Tense Past tense expresses an action or situation that was started and finished in the past. Future Tense Future tense expresses an action or situation that will occur in the future. The speaker of the House will finish her term in May of 1998. The future tense can also be expressed by using am, is, or are with going to. The surgeon is going to perform the first bypass in Minnesota. We can also use the present tense form with an adverb or adverbial phrase to show future time. The president speaks tomorrow.
Verb Tenses Summary: This handout explains and describes the sequence of verb tenses in English. Contributors:Chris Berry, Allen Brizee, Elizabeth AngeliLast Edited: 2013-09-14 09:29:01 Strictly speaking, in English, only two tenses are marked in the verb alone, present (as in "he sings") and past (as in "he sang"). Simple Present: They walk Present Perfect: They have walked Simple Past: They walked Past Perfect: They had walked Future: They will walk Future Perfect: They will have walked Problems in sequencing tenses usually occur with the perfect tenses, all of which are formed by adding an auxiliary or auxiliaries to the past participle, the third principal part. ring, rang, rung walk, walked, walked The most common auxiliaries are forms of "be," "can," "do," "may," "must," "ought," "shall," "will," "has," "have," "had," and they are the forms we shall use in this most basic discussion. Present Perfect The present perfect consists of a past participle (the third principal part) with "has" or "have." 1. 2.
Appositives Summary: This handout defines appositives and explains how they are used. Contributors:Chris Berry, Dana Lynn DriscollLast Edited: 2013-04-18 03:29:26 An appositive is a noun or pronoun — often with modifiers — set beside another noun or pronoun to explain or identify it. Your friend Bill is in trouble. My brother's car, a sporty red convertible with bucket seats, is the envy of my friends. The chief surgeon, an expert in organ-transplant procedures, took her nephew on a hospital tour. An appositive phrase usually follows the word it explains or identifies, but it may also precede it. A bold innovator, Wassily Kandinsky is known for his colorful abstract paintings. The first state to ratify the U. A beautiful collie, Skip was my favorite dog. Punctuation of appositives In some cases, the noun being explained is too general without the appositive; the information is essential to the meaning of the sentence. Here are some examples.
Subject/Verb Agreement Summary: Ever get "subject/verb agreement" as an error on a paper? This handout will help you understand this common grammar problem. Contributors:Joshua M. This handout gives you several guidelines to help your subjects and verbs agree. 1. She and her friends are at the fair. 2. The book or the pen is in the drawer. 3. The boy or his friends run every day. His friends or the boy runs every day. 4. He doesn't like it. They don't like it. 5. One of the boxes is open The people who listen to that music are few. The team captain, as well as his players, is anxious. The book, including all the chapters in the first section, is boring. The woman with all the dogs walks down my street. 6. Each of these hot dogs is juicy. Everybody knows Mr. Either is correct. 7. The news is on at six. Note: the word dollars is a special case. Five dollars is a lot of money. Dollars are often used instead of rubles in Russia. 8. These scissors are dull. Those trousers are made of wool. 9. There are many questions. 10. 11.
Grammar Handouts | BHS English Department BHS English Department "A Room Without Books is Like a Body Without a Soul" – Cicero Skip to content Grammar Handouts 2013-14 sophomores: I will try to rearrange this list into something chronological, rather than alphabetical as the year goes on. FIRST SEMESTERApostrophesSimile Metaphor Analogy ClichéStory Arc IntroVerb Basics(Participles, Tenses) Accent Marks BHS Common Errors Worksheet 5 of 8 BHS Common Errors Worksheet 6 of 8Direct & Indirect ObjectsTen French PhrasesTen Literary DevicesPronoun Crash Course Vol. 1 Pronoun Crash Course Vol. 2 SECOND SEMESTER Abbreviations BHS Common Errors Worksheet 7 of 8 BHS Common Errors Worksheet 8 of 8 Hyphens It, This, Thing Passive Voice Worksheet Plurals Psychoses SymbolismTen German Phrases Ten Latin PhrasesVerb complexities Share this: Like this: Like Loading... Leave a Reply Devil’s AdvocateError: Twitter did not respond. Devil’s Playlist on Twitter @rtw4 Duly noted! BHS Poetry Club poetry club is cancelled today- 3/19- ms. skerry is sick!
HyperGrammar Welcome to HyperGrammar electronic grammar course at the University of Ottawa's Writing Centre. This course covers approximately the same ground as our English department's ENG 1320 Grammar course. The content of HyperGrammar is the result of the collaborative work of the four instructors who were teaching the course in Fall 1993: Heather MacFadyen, David Megginson, Frances Peck, and Dorothy Turner. David Megginson was then responsible for editing the grammar and exercises and for converting them to SGML. This package is designed to allow users a great deal of freedom and creativity as they read about grammar. HyperGrammar allows users to create and follow their own lines of thought. This package is currently under construction! Please read the Copyright and Terms of Use before you begin using HyperGrammar, and note that we provide NO WARRANTY of the accuracy or fitness for use of the information in this package. * This site uses the Oxford dictionary spelling.