Grammar Smart 3rd Edition - Princeton Review 2014

H. Interjections
Part 1. The Names of Things

Wow! Heavens above! Interjections are the most fun part of speech! Curses are in this category: Damn! Hey! Are interjections that function as filler, or as a kind of introductory word, often to show emphasis. And the good news is: no rules apply, except possibly good taste. Cool!

I. Articles

Articles introduce nouns: this is the definite article, a and an are indefinite articles. Try using them in a sentence to understand the distinction between definite and indefinite.

A mouse could be any mouse, anywhere.

The mouse specifies definitely—the mouse in my room, for example.

Articles have a simple function—to point out, or introduce, a noun. Think of them as adjectives, since they are really describing the nouns they introduce.

Summary

■ The term “parts of speech”: refers to the way a word is used in a sentence; the part of speech of a particular word can be found by looking up the word in the dictionary.

■ Nouns: are people, place, or thing words. Ideas and qualities are also nouns. Only nouns, or words or phrases that act as nouns, can be the subject of a sentence. (ex: rat, happiness, democracy)

■ Adjectives: describe or modify nouns. They describe by saying which one, how many, how much, or what kind of noun you mean. (ex: chartreuse, mealy, tremendous)

■ Verbs: tell what the noun is doing. They express either action or a state of being. Every sentence must have a verb. (ex: is, was cleaning, had buried.)

■ Tense: is the form of the verb that places the action in time. Past tense puts the action in the past; present tense puts the action at the current time. There are six basic tense, plus the continuous, or -ing forms, of all six.

■ Adverbs: modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. They describe by saying when, in what manner, where, how, or how much. An adverb never modifies a noun. (ex: haughtily almost, feverishly)

■ Pronouns: act as stand-ins for nouns. (ex: me, whom, everyone)

■ Prepositions: link nouns to other words in a sentence, usually describing a relationship of time or space. (ex: of, to, with)

■ Conjunctions: link words or parts of sentences. (ex: and, yet, either/or)

■ Interjections: provide emphasis and filler; there are no rules to worry about. (ex: Wow! Ugh! Aiyiyi!)

Quick Quiz #14

Parts of Speech

Julie Andrews went for raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens—what are a few of your favorite things? List your five favorite nouns.

1

2

3

4

5

Now think of an adjective to describe each of your favorite nouns.

1

2

3

4

5

What would be the correct pronoun for each of your nouns?

1

2

3

4

5

With your adjective-noun pairs, make prepositional phrases.

1

2

3

4

5

List your five favorite verbs.

1

2

3

4

5

Now think of an adverb to modify each verb.

1

2

3

4

5