{"id":69,"date":"2020-06-11T21:12:05","date_gmt":"2020-06-11T21:12:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/buildingblocks\/back-matter\/grammar-review\/"},"modified":"2020-06-11T21:12:05","modified_gmt":"2020-06-11T21:12:05","slug":"grammar-review","status":"publish","type":"back-matter","link":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/buildingblocks\/back-matter\/grammar-review\/","title":{"raw":"Appendix A: Grammar Review","rendered":"Appendix A: Grammar Review"},"content":{"raw":"\nNavigate through this grammar review using the table of contents:\n\n\n\n
A.1 Basic Parts of Speech<\/a>\nA.2 Form Versus Function<\/a>\nA.3 The Clause<\/a>\nA.4 The Phrase<\/a>\nA.5 Commas<\/a>\nA.6 Semicolons<\/a>\nA.7 Colons<\/a>\nA.8 Hyphens<\/a>\nA.9 Apostrophes<\/a>\nA.10 Dashes and Parentheses<\/a>\nA.11 To Be<\/a>\nA.12 Linking Verbs<\/a>\nA.13 Intransitive Verbs<\/a>\nA.14 Transitive Verbs<\/a>\nA.15 Subject-Verb Agreement<\/a>\nA.16 Commas and Semicolons<\/a>\nA.17 Voice<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

A.1 Basic Parts of Speech<\/h1>\nThe eight parts of speech (nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, conjunctions, prepositions, and interjections) are the basic words that make up phrases, clauses, and sentences. Nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs make up over 95% of all words in the English language.\n

Nouns<\/h2>\nWe traditionally define a noun as any word that represents a person, place, or thing. However, nouns often do not function on their own; they work with attendant determiners <\/strong>and adjectives <\/strong>to form noun phrases<\/strong>. We can also distinguish further between abstract nouns and proper nouns<\/strong>, those that represent a specific person, historical event, or other name. Proper nouns are always capitalized.\n
Mary<\/span> jogged.<\/blockquote>\nMary is a proper noun that functions as the subject of the sentence.\n
That tall woman<\/span> jogged.<\/blockquote>\n\"Woman\" is a noun, but the word also has the determiner \u201cthat\u201d and the adjective \u201ctall\u201d preceding it. All three words working together make up the noun phrase that functions as the subject of the sentence.\n

Pronouns<\/h2>\nA pronoun replaces a noun or proper noun, indirectly referring to a person, place, or thing. Typically, a pronoun is used when the reader already knows the proper noun to which it refers, either from a previous sentence or because of information given within the same sentence.\n
She<\/span> went straight to the source.\n\nFor such a beautiful country, it<\/span> has very few visitors.<\/blockquote>\n

Adjectives<\/h2>\nAdjectives modify or describe nouns. Many adjectives have characteristic suffixes, such as -ous<\/em> (\"delicious\"), -ish<\/em> (\"waspish\"), -ful<\/em> (\"beautiful\"), and -ary<\/em> (\"wary\"). You can modify adjectives using qualifiers<\/strong> (\"very,\" \"extremely\") and comparative words (\"more,\" \"most,\" \"less,\" \"least\"). Just as with nouns, adjectives and attendant modifiers form adjective phrases<\/strong>.\n
I need to find an affordable<\/span> car.<\/blockquote>\nThe adjective \"affordable\" is modifying the noun \"car.\"\n
Ms. Chu needs to find a more reliable<\/span> car.<\/blockquote>\nHere the adjective \u201creliable\u201d is preceded by the comparative word \u201cmore.\u201d Both of these words make up the adjective phrase modifying the noun \u201ccar.\u201d\n

Verbs<\/h2>\nVerbs are defined as action words, but may also introduce states or descriptions. They are often marked by auxiliaries <\/strong>(\"will,\" \"shall\"). A verb and its attendant auxiliaries make up a verb phrase<\/strong>. All verbs require a subject<\/strong>, which in most cases consists of who or what is conducting the action. Often in sentences that command or suggest something to a listener, the subject \u201cyou\u201d will be omitted. Many verbs require an object <\/strong>(who or what is receiving the action).\n
Robert dropped<\/span> the ball during the final seconds of the game.<\/blockquote>\nThe verb of this sentence is \u201cdropped.\u201d The subject of the verb is the noun \u201cRobert\u201d and the object is the noun \u201cball.\u201d\n
Go<\/span> to my office and fetch<\/span> my keys.<\/blockquote>\nThe subject of these verbs is the implied \u201cyou,\u201d which is omitted in commands or requests.\n
I could finish<\/span> my essay by eight o\u2019clock tonight.<\/blockquote>\nThe verb \u201cfinish\u201d is attended by the auxiliary \u201ccould.\u201d Both words make up the verb phrase.\n\nHere is a list of auxiliaries that can attend a verb. \"Must\" and \"ought to\" have no past form. Auxiliaries are defined as part of the verb, not as a separate adverb.\n\n\n\n
Table A.1 Auxiliary verbs<\/caption>\n
Present<\/th>\nPast<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
\n
    \n \t
  • will<\/li>\n \t
  • shall<\/li>\n \t
  • can<\/li>\n \t
  • may<\/li>\n \t
  • must<\/li>\n \t
  • ought to<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n
\n