The Adverb

What is an Adverb?

  • Adverbs are words that modify (1) verbs, (2) adjectives, and (3) other adverbs.
  • They tell how (manner), when (time), where (place), how much (degree), and why (cause).
  • Adverbs that tell us how, when, where, and why always modify the verb.
  • Adverbs that tell us how much modify adjectives or other adverbs.

Identifying Adverbs

  • Many adverbs end with –ly which is a good clue to adverb recognition, but not all words that end in –ly are adverbs.
    • Hourly we listened to the rapidly falling rain. (Adverb)
    • The yearlycrop was totally ruined by the weather. (Adjective)
  • Not and its contraction n’t are adverbs. They really modify the entire sentence, but we will have them modify the verb as it is the most important word in the sentence.
    • Terri did not do the work correctly.
  • Adverbs may be compound.
    • We shouldn’t decide this very important decision quickly or foolishly.
  • Not all adverbs are formed from adjectives. Some common ones are never, not, here, there, then, when, where, always, too, now, and very.

Comparatives in Adverbs

  • Adverbs like adjectives can be compared. They have the same three degrees (1) positive – one thing or person, (2) comparative – two things or persons, and (3) superlative – more than two things or persons.
    • lazily, more lazily, most lazily
  • Some adverbs, including those that can also be adjectives, use –er and –est to form comparisons.
    • high, higher, highest
  • Some adverbs have an irregular comparison.
    • badly, worse, worst
  • Most adverbs not formed from verbs cannot be compared.
    • Words like now, too, then, not, already, again, always, yesterday, almost, why, and here.
  • Do not use two negative words to limit one idea.
    • Be careful not to use not or n’t, no, never, none, hardly, scarcely, or nothing with another negative word.
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The Adjective

What is an Adjective?

ADJECTIVES modify or affect the meaning of nouns and pronouns and tell us which, whose, what kind, and how many about the nouns or pronouns they modify. They generally come before the noun or pronoun they modify, but there are exceptions to that rule. Adjectives can take many forms, but the most important way to tell if a word is an adjective is to decide if it clarifies, explains, or limits a noun or pronoun. If not, the word cannot be an adjective. Adjectives are not limited in how many can be used with a noun to modify it.

  • There are seven (7) words in the English language that are always adjectives. They are the articles a, an, and the and the possessivesmy, our, your, and their.
    • An elephant is my friend.
  • Other pronouns can also be used as adjectives, but they are not always adjectives as the seven mentioned above. Demonstrative, interrogative pronouns and indefinite pronouns; when used with a noun become adjectives.

§ Demonstrative pronouns, this, that, these, those

§ Interrogative pronouns, whose, which, what

§ Indefinite pronouns,another, any, both, each, either, many, neither, one, other, some, etc.

  • Numbers can be adjectives, but only if they modify a noun or pronoun.

§ The ten boys ate the 14 pickles. (Both are adjectives)

§ The ten ate the eggs. (Not an adjective-why?)

  • Nouns and Possessives can be adjectives as well.

§ July storms, winter weather, Jim’s boat, boy’s bed.

  • Verb Forms can be adjectives—they are called participial adjectives.

§ the lost mine, the howling wolf

Comparative Adjectives

Adjectives can be used in a comparison, which means we change the form of the adjective when speaking of one, two, or more than two. They change either by adding er or est to the adjective or by using the words more or most before the adjective. Some are irregular in their form and must be memorized or looked up in the dictionary. The dictionary gives the forms for most words using er or est to form comparisons. The three degrees of comparison are called (1) positive which states a quality of onething or person, (2) comparativewhich compares two things or persons, and (3) superlative which compares more than two things or persons.

Positive

Comparative

Superlative

New, careless, good

newer, more careless, better

newest, most careless, best


General Rules for Comparatives

  • In comparison of adjectives, one-syllable adjectives and some two-syllable adjectives (especially those ending in y or le)form the comparative with er and the superlative with est. Examples: new, newer, newest; jolly, jollier, jolliest.
  • Many two-syllable adjectives and almost all adjectives with three or more syllables use more or most to form the comparative and superlative forms. Examples: honest, more honest, most honest; careful, more careful, most careful.
  • Never use double comparisons. If you use er or est, then don’t use more or most.
  • There are a few adjectives that are irregular in their comparisons. The best known example is good. (Good, better, best)

§ Many, ill, much,perfect,bad are irregular.

A Few Rules for Using Adjectives Correctly

  • Use the article an before a word beginning with a vowel (a,e,i,o,u) or a vowel sound (words beginning with a silent h as heir, hour). Words that start with eu or u that are pronounced with a long u or pronounced like “you” use the article a before them.
    • Examples: an egg, an hour, an orange, an idea, a house, a mouse, a river, a boy, a ukulele, a eucalyptus tree.
  • When you are using separate nouns, be sure to use the articles (a, an, or the) before each noun. If only one thing or person is meant, do not repeat the article.
    • I need a secretary and a bookkeeper. ( two persons)
    • I need a secretary and bookkeeper. (one person)
  • Use this or that with kind or sort because both are singular; use these or those with kinds or sorts because both are plural.
    • Examples: this or that kind of stocks, these or those kinds of stocks, this or that sort of people, these or those sorts of people.
  • Do not use the pronoun them for the adjectives these or those.
    • Correct: Give me those papers.
    • Correct: Give me them.
    • Incorrect: Give me them papers.
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The Pronoun

Definition

A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. Pronouns are used to avoid repetitive use of the same noun within a sentence or narrative. The following is an example of a sentence written without pronouns:

When the angry bear became hungry, the angry bear ate.

The essential counterpart of a pronoun is its antecedent, and an antecedent is defined as the word to which a pronoun refers. For example, in the previous example, he is the pronoun and bear is the antecedent.

Agreement in Person and Number

Pronouns must agree with their antecedents in person and number. Pronouns can be first person (I, we, me, us), second person (you), or third person (he, she, it, they, him, her, them). Number, of course, means singular or plural.

1. I like to read fiction because reading is an entertaining way for you to spend a lazy afternoon. (disagreement in person‹first person antecedent, second person pronoun)

2. All courses at this school are excellent; it can help you become an educated person in the classical sense. (disagreement in number‹plural antecedent, singular pronoun)

In addition to the personal pronouns listed above, our language also has several indefinite pronouns, most of which are considered singular, some plural.

Singular indefinite pronouns: anybody, anyone, anything, each, everybody, everyone, no one, nothing, one, somebody, someone, something

Plural indefinite pronouns: a couple, a few, both, many, several

*all, some, and none can be singular or plural:

· All of the hard work has been completed.

· All of the students are ready for the exam.

If these pronouns refer to a noun that is measured by amount, they are singular. If they refer to a noun that is measured by number, they are plural. Work, is measured by amount; students can be counted individually.

Ambiguous Pronoun Reference

If a personal pronoun is used following multiple antecedents, the reader may be unsure which antecedent the pronoun is referring to. Demonstrative pronouns (this, that, these, those) are often used in an ambiguous manner.


Pronoun Function in the Sentence: Subject or Object

Correct pronoun usage is also determined by the function of the pronoun within the sentence. Is the pronoun the subject, or is it the object of a verb or preposition? The subject forms of the personal pronouns are: I, we, you, he, she, it, and they. The object forms are: me, us, you, him, her, and them.

A. DUAL CONSTRUCTION: Using another noun together with any of these pronouns does not change the form that is correct. For example, children often say, “Me and Bobby are going out to play.” Mother replies with great emphasis, “You mean, Bobby and I are going out to play,” and the child soon concludes that whenever another person is involved, the correct pronoun to use is “I.” Thirty years later, this child is a high school teacher saying things like: “The test results will be delivered to you and I on Thursday,” and “Please congratulate Dana and he on your way out of the classroom.” If you ever wonder which form to use in a dual construction, eliminate the other person, and you will automatically choose the correct pronoun.

1. Those flowers were given in honor of Andrew and I. (Eliminating Andrew helps you realize that the correct word for the object of the preposition “of” is “me.”)

2. Stop hitting Sharon and I up for quarters, OK? (Even in colloquial talk, this sounds bad. “Me” should be used because it is the object of the verb “hitting.”

B. WHO AND WHOM: The relative pronouns — who, whoever (subject forms) and whom, whomever (object forms) — are often misunderstood, as well.

1. At whom did you throw the bouquet? (object of the preposition)

2. Who is the speaker at the banquet? (subject of the sentence)

3. I will choose whoever speaks up first. (subject of the dependent noun clause)

4. Sean slugged whomever he wanted. (direct object of the verb in the dependent noun clause)

Special Pronoun Usage

A. POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS: Remember, they do not need apostrophes because by definition they are already possessive. Nouns, by definition, are not possessive, so that’s why they need apostrophes. Possessive pronouns are his, her, hers, their, theirs, our, ours, its, your, yours, my, and mine. The most common error here consists of “it’s” used as a possessive.

B. COMPARATIVES: Here is another often misunderstood pronoun situation.

1. Dan loves Susan more than I.

2. Dan loves Susan more than me.

In sentence #1, Dan loves Susan more than I do; in sentence #2, he loves Susan more than he loves me. So, it might be wise to consider your pronouns carefully before you open mouth and insert foot!

1. Jan received a larger bonus than he. (received)

2. The students at CSU pay lower tuition than we. (pay)

Mentally providing the extra verb after the pronoun will help you choose the correct form in these comparatives.

C. REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS: myself, yourself, himself, herself, themselves, ourselves. There is no such word as “theirselves.” “Myself” should never be used as a substitute for “I” or “me” in dual constructions.

Correct usage of reflexive pronouns:

1. I will write the essay myself. (emphasis)

2. I myself will write the essay. (emphasis)

3. I slipped and hurt myself. (direct object)

Incorrect Usage

1. Please return the completed forms to either Bob or myself. (use “me” for object of preposition “to”)

2. Sharon and myself will lead the seminar. (use “I” for the subject of the sentence)

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The Verb

Definition

Verbs carry the idea of being or action in the sentence.

  • I am a student.
  • The students passed all their courses.

Transitive/Intransitive Verbs

Verbs are classified in many ways. First, some verbs require an object to complete their meaning: “She gave _____ ?” Gave what? She gave money to the church. These verbs are called transitive. Verbs that are intransitive do not require objects: “The building collapsed.” In English, you cannot tell the difference between a transitive and intransitive verb by its form; you have to see how the verb is functioning within the sentence. In fact, a verb can be both transitive and intransitive: “The monster collapsed the building by sitting on it.”

Helping Verbs

Helping verbs or auxiliary verbs such as will, shall, may, might, can, could, must, ought to, should, would, used to, need are used in conjunction with main verbs to express shades of time and mood. The combination of helping verbs with main verbs creates what are called verb phrases or verb strings. In the following sentence, “will have been” are helping or auxiliary verbs and “studying” is the main verb; the whole verb string is underlined:

  • As of next August, I will have been studying chemistry for ten years.

Linking Verb

A linking verb connects a subject and its complement. Sometimes called copulas, linking verbs are often forms of the verb to be, but are sometimes verbs related to the five senses (look, sound, smell, feel, taste) and sometimes verbs that somehow reflect a state of being (appear, seem, become, grow, turn, prove, remain). What follows the linking verb will be either a noun complement or an adjective complement:

  • Those people are all professors.
  • Those professors are brilliant.
  • This room smells bad.
  • I feel great.
  • A victory today seems unlikely.

Passive and Active Voice

Verbs are also said to be either active (The executive committee approved the new policy) or passive (The new policy was approved by the executive committee) in voice. In the active voice, the subject and verb relationship is straightforward: the subject is a be-er or a do-er and the verb moves the sentence along. In the passive voice, the subject of the sentence is neither a do-er or a be-er, but is acted upon by some other agent or by something unnamed (The new policy was approved).

  • Before the semester was over, the new nursing program had been approved by the Curriculum Committee and the Board of Trustees.
  • Near the end of the game, an illegal time-out was called by one of the players.
  • Later in the day, the employees were spoken to by the boss herself.
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The Noun

Definition

A noun is the name of a person, place, thing, or idea. Whatever exists, we assume, can be named, and that name is a noun. A proper noun, which names a specific person, place, or thing (Carlos, Queen Marguerite, Middle East, Jerusalem, Malaysia, Presbyterianism, God, Spanish, Buddhism, the Republican Party), is almost always capitalized. A proper noun used as an addressed person’s name is called a noun of address. Common nouns name everything else, things that usually are not capitalized.

Categories of Nouns

  • Count Nouns: Things that can be counted (books, continents, dishes)
  • Mass Nouns: Things that can’t be counted (blood, water, air, energy)
  • Collective Nouns: Things that take a singular form but are composed of more than one individual person or items (jury, team, class)
  • Abstract Nouns: the kind of word that is not tangible (warmth, justice, grief, and peace)

Special Case: The Gerund

  • Gerunds: verbal that ends in -ing and functions as a noun. The term verbal indicates that a gerund, like the other two kinds of verbals, is based on a verb and therefore expresses action or a state of being. However, since a gerund functions as a noun, it occupies some positions in a sentence that a noun ordinarily would.
    • Traveling might satisfy your desire for new experiences.
    • My cat’s favorite activity is sleeping.

Compound Nouns

In English, words, particularly adjectives and nouns, are combined into compound structures in a variety of ways. And once they are formed, they sometimes metamorphose over time. A common pattern is that two words — fire fly, say — will be joined by a hyphen for a time — fire-fly — and then be joined into one word — firefly. There is only one sure way to know how to spell compounds in English: use an authoritative dictionary.

There are three forms of compound words:

the closed form, in which the words are melded together, such as firefly, secondhand, softball, childlike, redhead, keyboard, makeup, notebook;

the hyphenated form, such as daughter-in-law, master-at-arms, over-the-counter, six-pack, six-year-old, mass-produced;

the open form, such as post office, real estate, middle class, full moon, half sister, attorney general.

Finding a Noun

Formal Tests

    • Does the word contain a noun-making morpheme? organization, misconception, weirdness, statehood, government, democracy, philistinism, realtor, tenacity, violinist
    • Can the word take a plural-making morpheme? pencils, boxes
    • Can the word take a possessive-making morpheme? today’s, boys’

Function Tests

  • Without modifiers, can the word directly follow an article and create a grammatical unit (subject, object, etc.)? the state, an apple, a crate
  • Can it fill the slot in the following sentence: “(The) _________ seem(s) all right.” (or substitute other predicates such as unacceptable, short, dark, depending on the word’s meaning)?
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