Grammatical Categories

NOUN
 Noun – a noun is a word that names a person, place, thing or animal in a sentence.

And there are 9 types of nouns. Also, noun can be broadly classified into:
1. Proper Nouns – nouns that are used to name a person, place or thing specifically are called a proper
noun. Proper noun always begins with a capital letter.
Example:
My name is Kate. (name of a particular person)
David came back from Baguio City. (name of a specific place)

2. Common Nouns – common nouns are those nouns that refers to a generic item, group or place. This
means that, unlike proper nouns, they are not used to identify specific people, places or objects.
Common nouns are not capitalized unless they appear at the beginning of a sentence.
Example:
I bought a pen yesterday. (common object)
I am going to the mall. (common object)

3. Singular Nouns – these are words that are used to name a single person, place, animal or object.
Example:
That is my chair. (single object)
I have a little brother. (single person)

4. Plural Nouns – plural nouns refer to a number of people, place, animals or things. Nouns are made
plural by adding an ‘s’ or ‘es’ or ‘ies’ or ‘ves’ to the existing root word. Nouns that end with an ‘s’
remain the same. Some nouns remain the same in both their singular and plural forms and some
others have totally different spelling.
Example:
I need some apples.
I bought mangoes from the market.

5. Countable Nouns – are those nouns that can be counted or measured.

Example: Tom brought 10 packets of Lays for the trip. (specific number – ten)
6. Uncountable Nouns – are those nouns that cannot be counted. This category of nouns includes both
concrete and abstract nouns.
Example: I have a lot of homework to do. (not specific)

7. Collective Nouns – a collective noun is a naming word that is used to denote a group of objects,
animals or people.
Example:
a pride of lions
a band of musicians
a board of directors

8. Concrete Nouns – a concrete noun refers to object that are material and can be perceived by the
human senses.
Example:
The book is on the table.
I had a cup of coffee.

9. Abstract Nouns – any entity that cannot be perceived by the five senses of the human body are
called an ABSTRACT NOUN.
Example:
Love is a strong emotion.
Honesty is the best policy.
 PRONOUN
I, He, She, We, Us
- Did you know all these words? Well, these words are pronouns, and what is pronouns?
 Pronouns is the sentence element used to replace a noun, or noun equivalent construction. The
replaced noun is named the “antecedents”. Where they are syntactically, pronouns have the same
functions nouns do; they used to avoid repetition, and set/clarify nouns categories of number of a
person and gender.

And did you know that there are 8 types of Pronouns? And here they are!
1. First, Personal Pronouns – represent specific people or things.
Example: Singular (I) or plural (we), thus in:
1st person (I) 1st person (we)
2nd person (You) 2nd person (You)
3rd person (he) 3rd person (They)
Example:
I like coffee.
John helped me.
It is nice to have a holiday sometimes.

2. Next, Possessive Pronoun – we use this in belonging to a person/people, thing, animals and etc.
Note: you will find a pronoun on a noun.
Example: Singular (mine) plural (ours)
1st person (mine) 1st person (ours)
2nd person (yours) 2nd person (yours)
3rd person (his) 3rd person (theirs)
Example:
All the essays were good but his was the best.

3. Reflexive and Emphatic Pronoun

 Reflexive Pronoun – is used with an active voice verb in order to reflect the action of the verb back
on the subject.
 Emphatic Pronoun – accompanies its antecedent in order to accentuate its action/state.

Example:
I saw myself in the mirror.
I made it myself.
(singular – myself, yourself, himself)
(plural – ourselves, yourselves)

4. Demonstrative Pronoun – the way to differentiate them depends on their position.

- This, these, that, those, the former, later, the first, the last, same, such
Example:
This taste good.
That is beautiful.
(singular – this)
(plural – that)

5. Interrogative Pronoun – this pronoun is used to ask questions.

Like: who, whom, what, which

6. Relative Pronouns – introduces a relative clause. It is called a “relative” pronoun because it

“relates” to the word that it modifies.
Five related pronouns: who, whom, whose, which, that
Examples:
The person who phoned me last night is my teacher.
The car which hit me was yellow.
The person whom I phoned last night is my teacher.

7. Reciprocal Pronouns – we use reciprocal pronouns when each of two or more subject is acting in
the same way towards the other
Like: each other, one another
Example:
John and Mary love each other.
The ten prisoners were all blaming one another

8. Indefinite Pronoun – does not refer to any specific person, thing or amount. It is vague and “not
definite”.
Example: He has one job in the day and another at night.
Note that: A singular pronoun takes a singular verb
- All is forgiven
- All have arrived

VERB

A word used to describe an action, state or occurrence, and forming the main part of the predicate of a
sentence such as hear, become, happen. A word that is not conventionally used as a verb, typically a noun.

There are 7 types of Verbs

1. Action verb 5. Linking verb
2. Stative verb 6. Modal verb
3. Transitive verb 7. Regular verb
4. Intransitive verb

1. Action verb
→ A verb that express something that a person, animal, objects or process in native can do rather than
expressing a state of being.
EX: He then watched the championship game again.
They removed the board from the wall.

2. Stative Verbs
→ A verb that express or state rather than an action.
EX:There is no fellowship like love and lordship.
Mary educators want to get rid of the cane.

3. Transitive Verb
→ A Verb that accepts one or more objects.
EX: She baked cookies on her sister’s birthday.
She sang a song for her.

4. Intransitive Verb
→ Verbs whose context aloes does not entail direct object
EX: Something has happened very bad.
He is sleeping very decently.

5. Linking Verb/Auxiliary Verb

→ Verbs that describes the subject by connecting it to a predicate adjective or predicate noun.
EX:The sweater feels itchy.

6. Modal Verb
→ Verb that contextually indicates a modality such as likelihood ability, permission, request, capacity,
suggestion, order or advice.
EX I can jump.
We could go to the cinema tomorrow.

7. Regular Verb
→ Any verb conjugation follows the typical pattern, or ore of the typical patterns, or are typical patterns of
the language to which it belongs.
EX: Walk-walked
Laugh-Laughed

ADJECTIVE
What is an adjective?
- A noun or pronoun is modified o described by adjective. Adjectives can be used to describe
characteristics of something or someone on their own or in contrast to another object.
Examples:
- Include using an adjective to describe an old house.
- The young man is tall and lean compared to his brother.
- Jane is smarter.
Types of Adjectives
1. Comparative – used to compare two different people or things to each other.
Example: prettier, faster, better
2. Superlative – used to compare more than two people or things by indicating which one is the most
supreme or extreme.
Example: smartest, loudest, fastest
3. Predicate – appears in the predicate of a sentence as a subject complement rather than directly next
to the nouns or pronouns that they modify.
Example: The steak looks delicious.
4. Compound – formed from multiple words which are usually connected by hyphens.
Examples: never-ending, cross-eyed, run-of-the-mill
5. Possessive – used to express relative positions in space and time.
Example: that, these, those
6. Proper – formed from proper nouns. Commonly used to say that something is related to a specific
person or place.
Example: African, Napoleonic

ADVERB
In the part of speech adverb plays an important role. ADVERB is a word that describes verb, an adjective,
or another adverb. Many adverbs end with ly. ADVERBS can be class into different types in accordance
with what kind of information they are providing they are describing or what they are describing.
Different Types of Adverbs
1. Adverbs of manner
- adverbs are these that describe the manner in which an action is done. Basically, it can be said that
the adverbs of manner answer the question “how”.
Example of adverbs of manner:
Quickly clearly slowly gradually eventually, rapidly, seriously, instantly, Example of adverbs of manner.
-quickly, clearly, slowly, gradually, eventually, rapidly, seriously, instantly, loudly.
a. James coughed loudly to attract her attention.
b. He eats gently
2. Adverbs of Time
- as the name suggests, the adverbs of time are used to tell the reader when some action is occurring.
Adverbs of time include general time periods and specific times. We can identify an adverb of time
by asking the question "when".
Example of adverbs of time:
-Now, soon, today, tomorrow, next month, recently, forever
a. I have to leave now
b. I will call you later
3. Adverbs of Place
- these adverbs indicate where the action mentioned in the sentence is taking place. Adverbs of
place can be identified by asking the question “where”.
Example of adverbs of Place:
-Somewhere, anywhere, nowhere, here, outside, inside, wherever, left, right, worth, east, south
a. Father went outside.
b. Can we go somewhere so that I can relax my mind?
4. Adverbs of Frequency
- these adverbs re used to denote how often an action or event is happening. The adverbs of
frequency can be recognised by asking the question “how often”.
Ex-(seldom, rarely, never, often, weekly, monthly, yearly, usually, constantly, frequently).
a. I usually shop for groceries on Saturday mornings.
b. He is often late for work
5. Adverbs of Degree
-these adverbs are used to indicate how intense an action of quality is. It is used to describe
adjectives and adverbs.
Ex. Very, too, extremely, much, more, little, less, totally, hardly, barely, deeply
a. The food was very hot. I almost burned my tongue.
b. The water was extremely cold.
 6. Conjunctive Adverbs
-perform a little differently from the other types of adverbs. These adverbs are seen to act like a
conjunction to link two sentences or clauses together and hence the name “conjunctive adverbs”.
Ex- (however, nevertheless, meanwhile, therefore, instead, likewise, rather, in addition)
a. I had not completed my assignment; therefore, I decided to stay back home and complete it.
b. I like you a lot in fact, I think we should be best friends

PREPOSITIONS
PREPOSITION- is a word or group of words used to a noun, pronoun or pronoun phrase to show direction,
time, place, location, spatial relationships or to introduce subject.
Some examples are words like IN, AT, ON, OF and TO
Preposition in English are highly “Idiomatic”.
In chart preposition connect nouns and pronoun to rest of a sentence. They usually show time, place or
direction.
3 main types of Preposition
1.Preposition of Time- it is a position that allows you to discuss a specific time period such as date on
the calendar, one of the days of the week or the actual time something takes place.
Preposition of time are the same words as preposition of place, however they are used in a
different way.
Example of Preposition of time: After, before, at, past, on
In sentences:
 My birthday falls in October
 The shop closes at midnight
 He’s in a meeting at the moment

2.Preposition of Place- it describes the position of person or thing in relation to another person or thing.
-are used to show position of one thing in the relation to another.
Example of Preposition of Place: in, above, inside, behind, an, at, over, between
In sentence:
 There is a cup on the table
 She looks at herself in the mirror
 I held the umbrella over my head

3.Preposition of Direction- indicates the location of a noun in relation to another noun. Preposition
precedes a noun or pronoun and often accompany words of a motion. This handout covers the preposition
to, toward, or, and, in. When they are used to express movement, direction or purpose.
-tells about the way which a person or thing moves or is directed in relation to
other people or things.
Example of Preposition of Direction: down, up, around, from, into, it
 In sentence:
 I left my wallet behind
 She went to the supermarket

Barrier of Conjunction
-are parts of speech that connect nouns, pronouns, phrases, clauses or sentences.

3 kinds of Conjunction
1. Coordinating conjunction -connect words or phrases that serve the same grammatical purpose in a
sentence.
FANBOYS
F-fir B-but S-so
A-and O-or
N-nor Y-yet
Transitional words: however and therefore
2. Paired- consist of two words or phrases that help make a point or establish alternative
*(note: when two subjects are connected by “both….and” use plural verb such as, are or were)

3. Subordinating Conjunction- in subordinate clause to a main clause and established a relationship

between two.
ex: after, since, before,than How , that, It, while, Until, through, and Where/wherever

Two ways to structure a sentence

1. Pair clause + subordinate clause

Example: The teacher administers the test after giving instructions

2. Subordinate clause + main clause

Example: After giving the instructions, the teacher administers the test

“That has a few different functions in English”

CONJUNCTIONS
Basics of Conjunctions
Conjunction are parts of speech that connect words, phrases, clauses or sentences.
Three kind of conjunction
1. Coordinating Conjunctions
-Connect words or phrases that serve the same grammatical purpose in a sentence.
FANBOYS
F-for B-but S-so
A-and O-or
N-nor Y-yet
Transitional words; however, and therefore
2. Paired conjunctions
- Paired conjunction consist of two words that help make a point or establish alternative.
(Note: when two subjects are connected by “both”... “and” use plural verb (such as “are” or “were”)

3. Subordinating Conjunction
-Subordinating conjunctions join a subordinate clause to a main clause and established a relationship
between the two.
After Once
Because Since
In order/ In order that Through
Although Unless
That When/ Whenever
Than Whether
How While
Before Where/ Wherever
Unless As much as/ As soon as/ As long as

Two ways to structure a sentence

1. Main clause + Subordinate clause
Ex: The teacher administered the test after giving instructions.

2. Subordinate clause + + Main clause

Ex: After giving instructions, the teacher administered the test.

INTERJECTIONS
 Interjections – is a word or phase use to express a feeling or request or demand something and
interjection’s a common in everyday speech and informal writing.
6 Types of Interjections
1. Primary Interjections – is a word or sound that can only be used as an interjection. Primary
interjections do not have alternative meaning and can’t function as another part of speech.
Example:
Ugh, that’s disgusting.
Uh-huh! I think that could work.
2. Secondary Interjections – is a word that is typically used as another past of speech (such as a
noun, verb, or adjective) that can also be use as an interjection.
Example:
Goodness! That was a close one.
Shoot! My flight has been cancelled.
Awesome! Do that trick again.
3. Volitive Interjections – is used to give a command or make a request.
Example:
Shh! I can’t focus when you’re singing.
Psst. Pass me an eraser.
Ahem. Please pay attention.
4. Emotive Interjection – is used to express an emotion or to indicate a reaction to something.
Example:
Yehey! We won the game.
Yucks! That’s disgusting.

Yay! I’m so excited to see you.

5. Cognitive Interjections – used to express a thought or indicate a thought process.

Example:

Wow! I wasn’t expecting that.

Umm. Can you explain it once more?

Eureka! I’ve solved the puzzle.

6. Greeting and Parting Words – are use to acknowledge or welcome someone or to express good
wishes at the end of conversation.

Example:

Hey!
Hello! It’s good to see you.

Bye!